Hawaii's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate hit 4.5 percent in September, its highest level in more than six-and-a-half years.

With the state economy continuing to slump due to a slowdown in such areas as tourism and housing, last month's rate was 0.3 percentage points higher than August's rate and 1.7 percentage points higher than a year ago, according to data released yesterday by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

The last time that Hawaii's jobless rate matched or exceeded last month's level was in February 2002 when it reached 4.6 percent.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the U.S. in September was 6.1 percent.

A total of 637,550 were employed, and 30,200 unemployed in September, compared with 630,050 employed and 18,150 unemployed in September 2007.

A total of 100 job losses were recorded in trade, transportation and utilities, and 300 in construction, due to the completion of existing projects.

The largest job decline over the previous month was recorded in government, with 1,300 job losses, the bulk of which were from the state Department of Education.

Job counts in the leisure and hospitality category remained stable over the month, with gains in food services helping to offset the losses in the accommodation sector. In retail, the recent opening of Whole Foods Market at Kahala Mall contributed to a 200 jobs gain in retail trade.

Until breaching 4 percent in August, the last time the state's jobless rate was at that level or higher was in September 2003 when it hit 4.0 percent. The unemployment number then began trending lower and remained below 3 percent from January 2005 to November 2007, dropping to an all-time low of 2.2 percent in December 2006.

“;We are confident that Gov. Lingle's proactive initiatives and five-point plan to stimulate the economy, coupled with innovation and resiliency of Hawaii's work force, will get us through this challenging period,”; said DLIR Director Darwin Ching.

By island, Molokai recorded the highest non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in September at 15.3 percent, up from 14.1 percent in August and 6.8 percent a year ago. Hawaii County's jobless rate last month was 6.7 percent, up from 6.2 percent in August and 3.7 percent a year ago. Maui was at 5.2 percent, up from 4.4 percent in August and 3.6 percent a year ago. Kauai was at 4.9 percent, up from 4.3 percent in August and 2.8 percent a year ago. Lanai was at 4.9 percent, matching its number in August and up from 1.6 percent a year ago. And Honolulu County was at 4.2 percent, up from 3.9 percent in August and 2.7 percent a year ago.