BUSINESS BRIEFS
Isle economic indicators fall again
Advertiser Staff and News Services
An index of Hawai'i's current economic indicators fell for a ninth consecutive month in November.
The coincident index produced by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia shows Hawai'i's index fell by 0.2 percent, in line with the overall U.S. economy's decline.
The index measures economic indicators thought to closely coincide with the overall economy such as jobs, unemployment, average hours worked in manufacturing and inflation-adjusted income. An increase in the number indicates economic expansion, while a decline indicates contraction.
Hawai'i's coincident index hit a high of 121.12 in February and has declined every month since then. In November, the index level was 118.22.
The national coincident index fell by -0.2 percent. The national index has dropped for eight consecutive months.
AUTO DEDUCTION SET AT 55¢ A MILE
The state Department of Taxation has set a 55-cents-a-mile rate for computing business automobile deductions for 2009.
The deduction rate for medical or moving is set at 24 cents a mile, while the charitable rate is 14 cents.
The rates conform with the federal optional standard mileage rates. The business mileage rate is lower than the 50.5 cents a mile for the first half of 2008 and 58.5 cents a mile for the second half.
HONOLULU SLIPS IN LITERACY RANKING
Honolulu slipped in a ranking of the country's most literate cities, falling to 22nd from 18th in 2007.
The ranking is drawn from an index made up of six indicators of literacy. These include newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment and Internet resources.
Honolulu's ranking placed it ahead of such cities as Philadelphia, New York City, Miami, Chicago, San Diego, Dallas and Los Angeles. The ranking was the same as in 2006 and 13 places higher than 2005, when it ranked 35th.
The top cities in the ranking of major cities with a population of 250,000 or more went to Minneapolis and Seattle, which were tied. The lowest ranking was in El Paso, Texas.
In terms of individual category rankings, Honolulu was 33rd in newspaper circulation, 56th in booksellers, 10th in education, 27th in Internet, 30th in libraries and 16th in publishing.
The index is produced by Jack Miller, president of Central Connecticut State University.
HAWAI'I LOSS-OF-BENEFITS RATE LOW
Hawai'i had the eighth-lowest percentage of unemployed workers who have run out of unemployment benefits in November, U.S. Department of Labor statistics show.
The percentage of jobless workers who couldn't find a job before benefits ran out stood at 29.6 percent last month and compared with the national average of 41.8 percent. The so-called exhaustion rate applies to workers who lose a job and run out of unemployment checks, typically 26 weeks for most states.
KUAKINI HEALTH BONDS UPGRADED
Moody's Investors Service has revised the outlook for Kuakini Health System's revenue bonds to stable from negative, noting the hospital has improved its operating performance.
Offsetting these and other financial improvements were a high exposure to Medicare patients and other challenges, the ratings agency said. Kuakini's operations consist of a 212-bed acute-care hospital, a 190-bed nursing facility, a 34-bed residential care home and other operations.
