Updated at 10:26 a.m., Thursday, March 8, 2007
Hawai'i jobless rate inches up, but still nation's lowest
Advertiser Staff
Hawai'i's jobless rate remained the lowest in the nation for the sixth month in a row in January at 2.2 percent.That's up from a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 2.0 percent in December, according to the Hawai'i State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
The biggest decline in jobs was in the government sector, where 1,100 positions were lost. The biggest gain was in the retail sector, where 800 positions were added.
Nationally, the jobless rate went from 4.5 percent in December to 4.6 percent in January. Hawai'i's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has been more than 2.0 percentage points lower than the U.S. seasonally adjusted unemployment rate since June 2006.
Utah and Wyoming both ranked second in January with jobless rates of 2.6 percent.
