Census report details
Hawaii’s economy

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

A few minutes with a calculator and economic census data handed out at a Honolulu seminar today produces some interesting insights into Hawaii's economy. For example, retailing's payroll works out at $18,000 a year per worker while the average in law offices comes to $51,000.

That is just one of the sidelights from the 1997 Economic Census Profile for Hawaii, being made public a piece at a time through last year and this year.

The 1997 survey, the latest, shows retailing in Hawaii had the highest number of employers, with 5,088 establishments employing 64,218 people, sales of $11.3 billion a year, and a payroll of $1.2 billion.

The tourist industry is the biggest part of Hawaii's economy, but since some retailing and other businesses are part of tourism it is not shown as a single industry.

Still, the 1997 census showed 3,081 accommodation and food services businesses employing 88,083, with revenues of $5 billion, and payroll of $1.5 billion.

The health care and social assistance category is next, with 2,941 establishments and 47,565 workers, $4 billion in sales, and a total payroll of $1.6 billion.

Unfortunately, many of the line items in the latest census can't be compared with the results of the last census in 1992 because data gathering methods changed.

Today's seminar at the state office building was put together by the regional and national Census Burea offices, the Hawaii Small Business Development Center, the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism and the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii.

Those interested in the figures can find them on the Census Bureau Web site at http://www.census.gov/econ97/.