Jobless rate
in isles up
for January

But the Hawaii rate was
better than the national
average for the month

---

By Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.com

Hawaii unemployment in January was higher than a year earlier but the jobless numbers decreased from December, when the islands apparently were feeling the fallout from Sept. 11 more than they are now, according to new state figures.

The overall unemployment rate last month was 4.8 percent, a 0.7-point rise from 4.1 percent in January 2001 but better than the 5 percent in December.

Hawaii's January rate was better than the national average of 6.3 percent for the month.

The new state figures show a decline of 10,200 jobs from December but the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said the month-to-month change was mostly seasonal.

The winter break at public schools and the University of Hawaii caused a loss of 4,600 jobs between December and January. After the holiday sales season, retailers dropped 1,300 jobs and eating and drinking places lost 700 jobs from one month to the next.

Construction, because some projects were completed and because bad weather affected others, was down by 600 jobs from December to January.

However, the total year-over-year job count for January was down by fewer than 5,000 jobs, at 541,850 last month from 546,200 in January 2001.

Economists consider the number of jobs a better economic indicator than the unemployment percentage. The job count and the number of persons employed are derived from a wide employer survey while the number unemployed comes from a much smaller household survey.