Hawaii's unemployment rate rises to 7.2% in August
By Greg Wiles
Advertiser Staff Writer
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Hawai'i's unemployment rate edged up slightly in August, reaching 7.2 percent.
Figures released by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations show 46,050 people were unemployed last month, or 850 more than July when the jobless rate was 7.0 percent.
August was the fourth consecutive month this year with unemployment of 7 percent or greater. Unemployment is expected to remain around these levels or worse before the economy recovers because employers are hesitant to add new positions until they are certain business conditions are improving.
The Department of Labor noted Hawai'i's seasonally adjusted rate remains below the national average, which was 9.7 percent in August. The state's rate ranked as the 14th lowest among states.
The report comes a day after the state said the unemployment trust fund is headed for insolvency and that a sharp increase unemployment taxes along with a federal loan would be needed. The state has been paying out more in jobless benefits than it collects in unemployment taxes because of the recession and rising unemployment.
The department also released non-seasonally adjusted unemployment for individual counties showing O'ahu continues to have a lower rate than the Neighbor Islands. This included:
The statewide seasonally adjusted rate for Hawai'i grew by 3.0 percentage points from the 4.2 percent a year prior.
The data released also showed there were 594,500 employed in August, down 22,400 from August 2008.
Michigan has the highest jobless rate at 15.2 percent, followed by Nevada at 13.2 percent, Rhode Island at 12.8 percent and California and Oregon at 12.2 percent each.
