Hawai'i's unemployment rate for May fell 0.2 percentage points from April's 2.9 percent. It was also the third time that the Islands' unemployment rate fell below 3 percent.

Hawai'i's all-time low unemployment rate of 2.2 percent occurred in October and November of 1989, during the peak of the Japanese investment bubble in the Islands.

With a May labor force of 625,250, Hawai'i's unemployment rate meant 608,200 people had jobs and 17,050 were unemployed.

But several people with jobs and some still looking said they still face difficulties.

Amanda Jeffris, 23, of Kaimuki, has received four or five recent job offers but they were all for part-time work.

She just started working last week at the Kahuna Dog hot dog stand at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa's Campus Center and tomorrow has an interview for part-time work at a supermarket chain.

"There are lots of job openings," Jeffris said, "but it's a lot harder to find a full-time job."

Erica Corcino, 40, of Wai'anae, had a promising interview on Thursday for a file clerk position for a lawyer. But Corcino said the office wants to interview five more people before deciding.

Corcino, who attends Hawai'i Business College, said, "I've been putting in resumes but it's hard (to find the ideal work hours) because I go to school."

Arturo Dela Rosa, 23, of Pacific Palisades, estimated he has filled out 15 job applications — mostly for mechanic positions — without getting an offer. He's also applied for work as a security guard and as a furniture assembler.

"I have no idea what's going on," Dela Rosa said. "They just tell me to keep calling back."