HAWAII’S MARCH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AT 3.5 PERCENT
Jobs increased by 22,900 year-over-year
News Release from DBEDT, April 20, 2023
HONOLULU — The Hawaii State Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT) today announced that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for March was 3.5 percent, compared to 3.6 percent in February. In March, 654,850 persons were employed and 23,600 were unemployed, for a total seasonally adjusted labor force of 678,450 statewide. Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.5 percent in March, down from 3.6 percent in February.
The unemployment rate figures for the State of Hawaii and the U.S. in this release are seasonally adjusted, in accordance with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) methodology. The not seasonally adjusted rate for the state was 3.1 percent in March, compared to 3.2 percent in February.
Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey)
In a separate measure of employment, total nonagricultural jobs decreased by 100 month-over-month, from February 2023 to March 2023. Job gains were experienced in Leisure & Hospitality (+300); Trade, Transportation, & Utilities (+200); Professional & Business Services (+200); Manufacturing (+100); and Other Services (+100). Employment in Information; and Financial Activities remained stable. Job losses occurred in Construction (-300); and Private Education & Health Services (-1,500). Within Private Education & Health Services, most of the decline was in Health Services. Primary factors in the drop were a hospital strike on Maui County and contraction in Ambulatory Health Care Services. Government employment went up by 800 jobs, with about one-half of the rise in State Government, in part due to increased staffing in the University of Hawaii System. Year-over-year (March 2022 was the 24th month of pandemic effects), nonfarm jobs have gone up by 22,900, or 3.8 percent. However, in comparison with March 2020 (the last month prior to pandemic effects), nonfarm jobs were down by 22,700, or - 3.5 percent.…
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