Big Island employers cannot find workers
HILO » First Hawaiian Bank's economics consultant painted a rosy picture of the Big Island economy yesterday, but gave moderate warnings about a shortage of workers, a slowdown in real estate, and inadequate harbors.
"Tourism continues to be healthy, especially the exploding cruise-ship market. The labor market remains extremely tight," Leroy Laney told audiences in Hilo and West Hawaii. "Employers everywhere on the Big Island are having a hard time finding employees."
The problem is especially noticeable in West Hawaii, where some estimates put the number of unfilled jobs at luxury South Kohala resorts at nearly a thousand.
Overall, the Big Island unemployment rate is an unusually low 2.8 percent, nearly as low as the 2.6 percent rate for the state as a whole.
"When job growth eventually does run out of steam, it could be as much because the island is running out of workers as it is because the economy itself is slowing," Laney said.
Meanwhile, real estate activity is tapering off, with speculators gone and potential buy-and-hold customers waiting to see what happens with prices, he said.
Still, median prices for single-family homes are up 17.3 percent this year, although not as impressive as last year's 33.5 percent rise, he said.
Tourism is up 8 percent compared to last year's 16 percent surge.
Despite growth in the cruise ship industry, "upgrades to harbor infrastructure lag far behind, and there is an urgent need for improvements," Laney's written statement said.
The last pier constructed at Hilo Harbor was built in 1927, he noted. At Kailua-Kona, cruise ships have to stand offshore with passengers being brought to land in small boats. An upgrade at Kawaihae Harbor for the Hawaii Superferry won't happen until 2009 at the earliest.
Laney noted the economic good news that the lawsuit blocking the $1 billion Hokulia residential project was settled but also noted the contrasting cancellation of the $50 million NASA Outrigger telescope project on Mauna Kea.
Loss of the outriggers raises concerns about Gemini Observatory's proposed construction of a 30-meter telescope with a 100-foot mirror near the summit of Mauna Kea, Laney said. The construction value of that project has been put at over $1 billion.