HAWAI’I’S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AT 5.7 PERCENT IN DECEMBER
News Release from DBEDT, Jan 24, 2022 (excerpts)
HONOLULU — The Hawai‘i State Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT) today announced that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for December was 5.7 percent compared to 6.0 percent in November. Statewide, 610,350 were employed and 37,050 unemployed in December for a total seasonally adjusted labor force of 647,450. Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.9 percent in December, down from 4.2 percent in November.
The unemployment rate figures for the State of Hawai’i and the U.S. are seasonally adjusted, in accordance with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) methodology.
The not seasonally adjusted rate for the State was 4.9 percent in December, compared to 5.4 percent in November.
Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey)
In a separate measure of employment, total nonagricultural jobs increased by 1,900 in December over November. Job gains were experienced in Leisure & Hospitality (+1,100); Trade, Transportation, & Utilities (+700); and Professional & Business Services (+200). The expansion in Leisure & Hospitality was about equally robust in Accommodation and in Food Services & Drinking Places. Employment remained unchanged in Manufacturing; Information; and Other Services. Job losses occurred in Construction (-100); Financial Activities (-100); and Education & Health Services (-300). Government employment rose by 400 jobs, mostly due to an increase in the Department of Education. Over-the-year (December 2020 was the 9th month of pandemic effects), nonfarm jobs have gone up by 38,400, or 7.1 percent. However, in comparison with March 2020 (last month prior to pandemic effects), nonfarm jobs were down by 75,100, or -11.5 percent….
| Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization for States, fourth quarter of 2020 through third quarter of 2021 averages (percent). |
| |
Measure |
| U-1 |
U-2 |
U-3 |
U-4 |
U-5 |
U-6 |
| United States |
3.2 |
3.8 |
6 |
6.3 |
7.1 |
10.4 |
| Hawai’i |
5.9 |
6.3 |
8.1 |
8.6 |
9.4 |
14.8 |
The six alternative labor underutilization state measures based on the Current Population Survey (CPS) and compiled on a 4-quarter moving average basis defined:
U-1, persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percent of the civilian labor force;
U-2, job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs, as a percent of the civilian labor force;
U-3, total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (this is the definition used for the official unemployment rate);
U-4, total unemployed plus discouraged workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus discouraged workers;
U-5, total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all other marginally attached workers*, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers; and
U-6, total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers.
* Individuals who want, and are available for work, and who have looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months (or since the end of their last job if they held one within the past 12 months), but were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the four weeks preceding the survey, for such reasons as child care or transportation problems, for example. Discouraged workers are a subset of the marginally attached.
read … Full release
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