Hawaii jobless rate ticks up to 4.2% as labor force grows

Hawaii’s unemployment rate ticked up in May as the number of people entering the labor pool outstripped an increase in employment.

The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism reported Thursday that Hawaii’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.2% in May, up from 4.1% in April.

In May there were 28,250 people unemployed out of a workforce of 675,850. The number of people employed in May totaled 647,600 and represented a gain of 1,900 from April. However, the number of people in the workforce grew by 2,500 in May from April to raise the unemployment rate by a tenth of a percentage point.

DBEDT previously reported April’s unemployment rate at 4.2% but revised it downward to 4.1% after further analysis.

Despite the slip in May, Hawaii’s labor market remains in a general improving trend since unemployment soared in April 2020 to 22.4% at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on jobs.

On an annual basis, Hawaii’s unemployment rate was 12% in 2020 and improved to 5.7% in 2021. In January the rate was 4.3%. DBEDT recently projected that unemployment this year could fall to 3.7%.

DBEDT noted in its latest unemployment report that the number of nonfarm jobs in Hawaii was down by 52,200 in May, compared with March 2020, just before the impact from COVID-19.

By county, Honolulu had the lowest unemployment rate in May at 3.4%. Kauai had the highest rate at 4.5%. The rate for Hawaii County was 3.6%. Maui County’s rate was 4.2%, and by island broke down to 4.0% for Maui, 10.6% for Molokai and 3.9% for Lanai.

However, county figures are not adjusted for seasonality and therefore combine to produce a lower statewide rate of 3.6%, compared with the 4.2% statewide seasonally adjusted figure.

Seasonal impacts on employment, including changes in employment during holidays and school vacation periods, make it difficult to tell whether month-to-month changes in employment and unemployment are due to changing economic conditions.

The unemployment rate for the United States in May was 3.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis, and 3.4% not adjusted for seasonality.