Unemployment HAWAII'S FEBRUARY unemployment rate declined to 4.3 percent from 4.6 percent a year earlier, keeping the island jobless rate lower than the national average for the third month in a row.
falls to 4.3%
Hawaii's jobless rate has
been lower than the U.S. figure
for 3 straight monthsBy Russ Lynch
Star-BulletinThe national level was 4.6 percent last month.
Figures issued by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations yesterday show there were 25,650 people listed as unemployed last month, 5 percent fewer than the 27,000 jobless in February 2000.
The number of people in jobs grew 1.7 percent to 574,600 from 565,000 in February 2000. Economists see the job-count number as the most important of the monthly labor statistics because it comes from a detailed survey of employers and is a close reflection of their hiring habits. A rise in the job count generally indicates continuing strength in the economy.
The number of unemployed is less accurate because it comes from a much narrower house-to-house survey asking who in the household is working and who is not.
The total island work force grew 1.4 percent from the previous February, to 600,250 people willing and able to work last month compared to 591,950 a year earlier.
The Labor Department, following its standard practice of comparing the most current statistics with the previous month, said the February jobless rate was an increase from January's 4.1 percent.
However, there were month-over-month increases in the job count in some sectors. For example, government employment was up by 8,200 from January.
The month-over-month comparison can be misleading, particularly in the unemployment percentage numbers, which are not seasonally adjusted at either the state or national levels.
Unemployment usually rises in January from December, for example, as temporary workers hired for the Christmas retail rush are let go.
That is why economists prefer to compare a month with the same month of the previous year.
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