Hawai'i job growth fourth best in nation
By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer
Stable tourism, robust construction and a hot real-estate market combined to give Hawai'i the fourth best job growth in the nation last month as the state's jobless rate dipped to 4.2 percent.
The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said Hawai'i's jobless rate remained well below the national unemployment rate, which stood at 5.6 percent in October. The number of jobs grew by 1.7 percent in the first 10 months of this year — the fourth highest rate in the nation.
"We have more people employed full-time now than we've had in the last decade and a half," said Ron Takeda, business representative for the Hawaii Carpenters Union, which has about 3,500 active carpenters. "I think for the foreseeable future the outlook looks good,"
Just as important to the state's relatively strong job gains is that the local economy isn't suffering the ailments that affect much of the Mainland.
"A lot of what's going on here is that we're simply not being negatively affected by the prolonged recession in manufacturing and technology that's going on on the Mainland," said University of Hawai'i economist Carl Bonham.
While not burdened by the loss of manufacturing jobs, Hawai'i has benefited from near record low interest rates, which are driving much of the boom in construction and real estate.
"We don't see anything slowing down," said Bill Chee, chief executive for The Prudential Locations LLC in Honolulu. "The market continues to break records."
The number of construction jobs should grow even more as an estimated $2 billion in new work is started on military homes that are being privatized and renovated later this decade.
Overall, Hawai'i's labor force in October totaled 604,800 workers including 579,100 employed and 25,600 unemployed. Since October of 2002, the state's labor force, or all those employed or seeking work, has grown by 26,400 with the employed population growing by 22,900. The number of unemployed grew by 3,400 people year-to-year.
"This job growth is reassuring especially in light of the substantial tourism jobs that Hawai'i lost due to the aftermath of 9/11 and a depressed economy," said Nelson Befitel, director of the state labor department. "Construction and real estate continue to provide a major boost to the state economy.
"This is a good sign when you consider that the billion-dollar military housing projects have yet to break ground."
Through October, total nonagricultural jobs increased by 9,900, with the private sector expanding by 8,500 jobs. The leisure and hospitality industry expanded by 3.2 percent, or 3,100 jobs, since October of 2002. The natural resources, mining and construction sector grew by nearly 4 percent, or 1,000 jobs.
The October job growth rate was slightly lower than what the state had managed in the first nine months of the year. The state was ranked No. 2 in the nation in job growth through September with a 2.1 percent expansion in the number of positions. Hawai'i was topped by only Nevada in that category.
In October Lana'i posted the lowest unemployment rate at 2.9 percent, down from 5.2 percent in October 2002. Honolulu's jobless rate stood at 3.9 percent compared with 3.5 percent in the year-ago period.
On the Big Island, October's jobless rate was 5.9 percent versus 5.1 percent the year before. Maui County, which includes Lana'i, recorded a jobless rate of 4.5 percent, which was up from 4.1 percent in October 2002. Kaua'i's rate dropped to 4.5 percent from 4.6 percent in the year-ago period.
Moloka'i suffered the biggest percentage increase in unemployment — 12.9 percent in October 2003 vs. 9.9 percent in October 2002.
Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8093.
