Hawaii jobless rate was 2.5% in February

The state's rate has been below 3 percent for 13 months in a row

Hawaii's seasonally adjusted jobless rate for February was 2.5 percent, down from 2.9 percent in February 2005, the state said yesterday.

It was the 13th straight month that Hawaii's rate fell below 3 percent. The national rate stood at 4.8 percent last month, up by 0.1 percentage point from January, according to figures released Friday by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Hawaii's unemployment rate in February ticked up from January's 15-year low of 2.4 percent.

Hawaii gained 20,900 jobs in February from a year earlier, an increase of 3.5 percent.

Jobs in trade, transportation and utilities grew by 2,000, boosted by momentum from recent major retail store openings, strong visitor arrivals and cruise ship hiring.

"Hawaii's consistent economic growth has produced considerable job creating over a wide range of sectors," labor department director Nelson Befitel said.

Since February 2005, the number of private sector jobs has grown by 19,800 or 4.2 percent.