by Andrew Walden
With the Rail Project under construction in August prior to the end-of-month State Supreme Court ruling, Honolulu lost 800 construction jobs year over year, ranking 225th out of 337 metro areas. Meanwhile the state as a whole gained 900 construction jobs meaning that the sister islands had a net gain of 1700 construction jobs. If the sister isles were a metro area, they would rank #1 in the nation for job growth, just ahead of Yuba City, CA and Pascagoula, MS.
Oahu lost 4% of its construction jobs while the sister isles gained 27% more constrction jobs. Contrary to the pro-rail lobby, Rail simply did not deliver the promised jobs. The 25% of the state not burdened by an additional 0.5% GE Tax is where all the growth is located.
| Area |
Aug-11 |
Aug-12 |
12 mo % change |
12 mo gain/loss |
| Hawaii Statewide |
28,500 |
29,400 |
3% |
900 |
| Honolulu, HI |
22,200 |
21,400 |
-4% |
-800 |
| Sister Isles |
6,300 |
8,000 |
27% |
1,700 |
Source: Associated General Contractors of America -- View construction employment figures by state and rank. |