December's rate, down from 4.2 percent in November, was up slightly from the December 2002 rate of 3.6 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 5.4 percent in December.

At the same time, the state's number of workers continued to grow, reaching 587,400 last month versus 562,700 in December 2002. Job losses occurred in the administrative support, naval shipyard and state government sectors.

Lana'i posted the lowest jobless rate at 2.5 percent, down from 3.8 percent in December 2002.

Honolulu's jobless rate stood at 3.5 percent, compared with 3.3 percent in the year-ago period.

On the Big Island, December's jobless rate was 5.1 percent, versus 4.8 percent the year before.

Maui County, which includes Lana'i, recorded a jobless rate of 3.9 percent, up from 3.8 percent in December 2002. Kaua'i's rate dropped to 4.4 percent from 4.9 percent in the year-ago period.

Moloka'i sustained the biggest percentage rate increase in unemployment — 9.4 percent in December 2003, versus 7.5 percent in December 2002.

About 23,000 people were reported as unemployed last month, compared with 21,000 who were jobless in the state in December 2002.

Nationwide, the U.S. Labor Department reported yesterday that new claims for unemployment benefits last week dipped by a seasonally adjusted 1,000 to 342,000, the lowest level since the end of December.