Last month, our state’s unemployment rate fell to 3.4% and every county across the state saw a decrease in unemployment. The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations released data showing the amount of nonfarm payroll jobs increased by 1,100 throughout August.
Dave Segal from The Star Advertiser wrote an article last week about this data and what it means. He writes, “The state’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate, which matched its June number, had been ticking up since dropping to 3.1 percent in February and March. Total nonfarm payroll jobs last month rose to 651,400 from 650,300 in July…The U.S. unemployment rate held steady at 4.9 percent in August.” As of the August 2016 data, Hawaii has the 6th lowest unemployment rate in the country. Only South Dakota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Nebraska, and Vermont have a lower percentage of jobless people than our state does. We believe that with more developments and expansive plans for the future, there are even more jobs ahead. Here’s to hoping one day Hawaii has the lowest unemployment rate in the United States.