Hawai'i jobless rate drops to 4.2 percent
Advertiser Staff
Hawai'i's unemployment rate dropped 0.3 percentage points in August to 4.2 percent and continued to do better than the rest of the country.
Last month's unemployment rate also was 0.3 percentage points better than August 2001, according to figures released yesterday by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
The national unemployment rate for August also fell 0.3 percentage points, to 5.7 percent.
Hawai'i's rate typically has been 1.5 percentage points lower than the national rate.
Hawai'i's labor force for August consisted of 570,950 employed workers and 24,750 unemployed.
Total non-agricultural jobs dropped by 1,000, including the loss of 600 private-sector jobs. The bulk of those jobs were attributed to the seasonal close of a youth employment program.
Retail trade jobs fell by 300 while construction lost another 200. But public education positions increased by 500 jobs.
By island, O'ahu's unemployment rate fell from 4 to 3.8 percent from the previous month; the Big Island went from 7.1 to 5.8 percent; Kaua'i dropped from 5.4 to 5.1 percent; Maui decreased slightly from 4.2 to 4.1 percent; Moloka'i went from 11 to 9.6 percent; and Lana'i saw a drop from 6.3 to 4.8 percent.
