Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Thursday, July 25, 1996

Isle home ownership rate declines
from year ago

Hawaii's home ownership rate has dropped slightly, bucking a national trend that shows more people owning their homes, federal government figures show.

In the April-June period, 52.1 percent of Hawaii households owned their homes, compared with 55.1 percent a year earlier, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The rate, however, is up from the 49.1 percent reported for all of last year. The second-quarter number also is higher than the 50.3 percent for the first quarter.

Hawaii's highest annual average was 53.3 percent in 1991.

Nationally, the rate has climbed a record 1.6 points in the past two years, reaching a 15-year high of 65.4 percent, the department said.


State to lower amount of
tax withholding rate

Local business will be required to withhold less money from employees' wages for state taxes, according to the state Department of Taxation.

The Tax Department said yesterday that the maximum tax withholding rate will drop from 10 percent to 8 percent under a new law passed by the 1996 Legislature.

The department will be mailing a new guide on wage withholding rates to all registered employers in early September.

According to the state, many employees have experienced substantial overwithholding, resulting in reduced take-home pay. Those workers often must wait until the next year before getting any refunds on their state taxes.

Under the new withholding system, families will see an increase in their cash flow, the state said.


Isle jobless rate climbs to 6.8 percent

Unemployment in Hawaii jumped to 6.8 percent in June, the highest it has been since summer two years ago, according to new state figures.

Molokai, always high on the jobless list, saw its jobless rate soar to 17.4 percent, from 12.1 percent a year ago.

Oahu, while still holding its position as the best place for jobs in the state, showed unemployment increase to 5.6 percent, from 4.9 percent in June 1995. Maui's jobless rate improved to 6.9 percent from 8 percent; Kauai's rate rose to 12.6 percent from 11.9 percent; and Lanai saw its rate climb to 7.7 percent from 6.2 percent. The Big Island's jobless rate fell to 11.2 percent from 12 percent a year earlier.

The loss of some hotel jobs on top of the usual summer layoffs in education pushed the jobless level up, the Labor Department figures show.

The statewide jobless rate equaled the 6.8 percent level of June, July and August 1994 and was higher than the 6.4 percent level of June 1995. The U.S. average was 5.5 percent last month.


Hawaii lags nation in income growth

Personal incomes in Hawaii grew at one of the slowest rates in the nation and at half the pace of the national rate during the first quarter, according to a study released by the U.S. Commerce Department.

The Commerce Department said yesterday that Hawaii's incomes rose an anemic 0.6 percent during the three months ended March 30 - matching gains made in three other states and topping only Ohio, Delaware and Michigan.

The slow growth comes as personal incomes nationwide grew at a rate of 1.2 percent during the first quarter.

The Commerce Department study said that Idaho enjoyed the fastest personal income growth with a 3.6 percent gain.


For more local, national and international business news,
see the Hawaii Inc. section in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.



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