Posted on: Friday, October 17, 2003
State jobless rate falls to 4.3%
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
There were 26,000 people unable to find work last month, compared with 26,900 in August, according to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, which released the latest jobless figures yesterday.
The largest employment increase came from the state Department of Education, which added 3,300 workers, followed by 500 people added in private education.
Although there were fewer unemployed last month, there also were 4,800 fewer people with jobs, as 576,100 people were working in September, compared with 580,900 in August.
The biggest decreases came from local government, which lost 2,200 workers, and from food and drinking establishments, which reported a drop of 500 employees.
Still, Hawai'i's unemployment rate moved in a positive direction from August to September and was relatively low compared with the U.S. average of 5.8 percent.
Excluding farm jobs, there were 700 more people employed in September than there were in August, and 8,600 more than there were in September 2002.
Labor department director Nelson Befitel said Gov. Linda Lingle's administration is encouraged by Hawai'i's consistently low unemployment rate, which this year has been between 3.0 percent and 4.4 percent.
"This is a key indicator that we are on the right track in expanding and diversifying the state economy while creating quality jobs for our residents," he said.
However, on a seasonally adjusted basis, which eliminates influences such as weather, holidays and school schedules, a 4.2 percent unemployment rate in September was the second highest of the year after 4.3 percent in August.
For the first nine months of the year, the state average nonseasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.9 percent.
By island, O'ahu's unemployment rate last month was unchanged from August at 4.0 percent, but up from 3.8 percent in September 2002.
On the Big Island, the rate was 5.6 percent, down from 6.2 percent in August and up from 5.5 percent in September 2002.
Maui's unemployment rate was 4.1 percent, lower than 4.2 percent in the prior month and 4.3 percent in the year-ago period.
Kaua'i's rate was 4.6 percent, down from 4.9 percent in August and 4.8 percent in September 2002.
Moloka'i's rate was 13.5 percent, compared with 15.8 percent in August and 10.1 percent in September 2002.
On Lana'i, the rate was 4.6 percent, down from 4.9 percent the previous month and 6.8 percent in the year-ago period.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
Fewer people out of work last month dropped the state's unemployment rate to 4.3 percent from 4.4 percent in August, though it remained above the 4.1 percent rate of September 2002.
