State labor board puts December jobless rate at 4.9 percent
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
Holiday hiring in retail, hotels and at the post office combined with other seasonal jobs to lower Hawai'i's unemployment rate to 4.9 percent in December, the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations announced yesterday.
The 0.6 percentage point drop from November represents a turnaround in what had been rising unemployment numbers since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The state's figures came a day after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Hawai'i's unemployment rate for the month at 5.4 percent. The state's number is lower because it is not seasonally adjusted and includes holiday hiring.
Retail trade, specifically general merchandise and apparel and accessory stores, was responsible for 1,400 jobs; hotels, aided by the Honolulu Marathon and the observance of the 60th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, added 300 jobs; and seasonal hires at the U.S. Postal Service and University of Hawai'i accounted for another 1,600 jobs.
The construction industry also added 300 jobs.
December's figures were a welcome drop from November's 5.5 percent unemployment rate, the highest in more than two years. And Hawai'i performed better than the national December unemployment rate of 5.4 percent.
But the numbers still were up from the 3.6 percent rate for Hawai'i in December 2000. And overall, the year ended on a bad note. Hawai'i had been averaging 4.4 percent unemployment for the first three quarters of 2001. In the fourth quarter, unemployment rose to 5.2 percent, the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations reported.
The airlines and ground transportation firms that cater to visitors continued to struggle in the aftermath of Sept. 11, the department said, and a total of 800 jobs were lost in the combined fields of transportation, communications and utilities.
The jobless rate for the Big Island was 5.9 percent; for Kaua'i, 6.4 percent; for Maui, 5.7 percent; for Moloka'i, 5.5 percent; and for Lana'i, 4.0 percent.
Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.
