State economists: Hawai‘i unemployment rate at 3.0% in May

The Hawai‘i State Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism on Monday announced that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May was 3.0%, compared to 3.1% in April.

In May, 649,550 persons were employed and 20,050 were unemployed, for a total seasonally adjusted labor force of 669,600 statewide. Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.0% in May, up from 3.9% in April.

The unemployment rate figures for the state of Hawai‘i and the U.S. are seasonally adjusted in accordance with U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics methodology. The not-seasonally adjusted rate for the state was 2.4% in May, compared to 2.8% in April.

In a separate measure of employment, total nonagricultural jobs increased by 2,100 month-over-month, from April 2024 to May 2024. Job gains were experienced in professional and business services (+700); construction (+500); manufacturing (+200); and trade, transportation and utilities (+200). Employment remained stable in other services.

Job losses occurred in information (-100); financial activities (-200); private education and health services (-500); and leisure and hospitality (-800). Government employment went up by 2,100 jobs, primarily due to an above average seasonal return of workers in the Department of Education.

Year-over-year (May 2023 was the 38th month of pandemic effects), non-farm jobs have gone up by 3,900, or 0.6%. However, in comparison with March 2020 (the last month prior to pandemic effects), non-farm jobs were down by 18,700, or -2.9%.