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State economy Hawaii's economy is not only back into a growth mode after a decade of slump, it is moving in new directions that point to a positive future, says a new "progress report" from the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.
taking new path
to spur growth
A DBEDT study says new
high-tech firms and better
government efficiency
signal a strong futureBy Russ Lynch
Star-BulletinThe most significant changes identified in the report are the rate at which high-technology businesses are coming to Hawaii and how advances in technology have helped government and business improve their efficiency. While the rate of economic growth is still not what it was in the boom of the late 1980s, the growth rate, as measured by gross state product, this year is the highest in 10 years, the report says.
DBEDT currently expects real gross state product, the inflation-adjusted dollar value of all the goods and services produced in Hawaii, to rise 3.5 percent this year.
"There is clear evidence that the state's economy is being dynamically restructured," said Seiji Naya, DBEDT director. "Not only is economic growth at its highest level in a decade, but there is a thriving high-technology sector emerging in the state and productivity is higher than it has been at any other time in our post-statehood period," Naya said.
The report gives a lot of the credit for the positive changes to the Cayetano administration, such as cutting state government jobs, reducing taxes, spending more on tourism marketing and pouring $1 billion into capital improvement projects.
But it also praises the work of the Legislature and small and large businesses in making changes to create a climate for growth. "The unemployment rate, which had surpassed the U.S. rate since 1995, has fallen precipitously. As Hawaii's job count accelerated, the unemployment rate fell rapidly to its present level of just over 4 percent."
Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism
eHawaiiGov.com
www.hawaii.gov
