At the same time Hawai'i’s jobless rate fell to a seasonally adjusted 3.9 percent, compared with December’s unemployment rate of 4.4 percent. The national jobless rate was 5.6 percent in January.

January’s work force figures continue a trend started early last year because of improving tourism and the boom in construction and real estate. That has helped Hawai'i become one of the brighter spots for job creation nationwide — a marked difference from much of the 1990s, when the national economy expanded and Hawai'i’s treaded water.

"Our state (work force) has reached a significant milestone," said Nelson Befitel, director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. "Furthermore, both of the employment measures the department tracks - the unemployment rate and the job count - continue to reflect the persistent strength of the local economy."

On a year-to-year basis, the number of jobs statewide rose 1.6 percent, or 9,300, as the trade, education, leisure and government sectors of the economy all added jobs.

January’s jobless rate was level with the January 2003 rate of 3.9 percent. The number of jobless could rise this month because of a strike by concrete workers that has stalled many construction projects on O'ahu.