Posted on: Friday, August 15, 2003

State unemployment rate lowers to 4.3 percent

By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i's jobless rate dipped slightly to 4.3 percent last month with gains in the retail and food-service sectors partially offsetting losses in government jobs.

July's rate, down from 4.4 percent in June, was also down from the year-ago rate of 4.4 percent, according to figures released yesterday by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Hawai'i's jobless rate remained well below the national unemployment rate, which stood at 6.3 percent in July.

The state's number of workers continued to grow, reaching 588,000 last month versus 560,000 in July 2002.

Much of the gains came in the private sector, while temporary seasonal losses in education hurt the government sector.

Nelson Befitel, the department's director, said the drop was a positive sign "given the tumultuous first seven months we've had dealing with SARS, Operation Iraqi Freedom, the war on terror and the job losses on the Mainland."

Lana'i posted the lowest unemployment rate at 3.7 percent, down from 6.4 percent in July 2002. Honolulu's jobless rate stood at 3.8 percent compared with 3.9 percent in the year-ago period.

On the Big Island, July's jobless rate was 6.7 percent versus 6.8 percent the year before. Maui County, which includes Lana'i, recorded a jobless rate of 4.4 percent, which was level with July 2002. Kaua'i's rate dropped to 4.9 percent from 5.3 percent in the year-ago period.

Moloka'i suffered the biggest increase in unemployment — 14.6 percent in July 2003 versus 12.4 percent in July 2002.

Last month, 26,500 were unemployed, compared with 25,800 who were jobless in the state in July 2002.