LIHUE — Statewide unemployment has reached its lowest numbers in more than a decade. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August was 2.6 percent, according to the Hawaii State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. The last time Hawaii’s
LIHUE — Statewide unemployment has reached its lowest numbers in more than a decade.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August was 2.6 percent, according to the Hawaii State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. The last time Hawaii’s unemployment rate was this low was in April 2007.
“A 2.6 percent unemployment rate is essentially full employment according to conventional economic theory,” said Linda Chu Takayama, department director, in a press release.
For Kauai, the not-seasonally adjusted rate of unemployment for August 2017 was 2.3 percent, a decrease from 3.1 percent in August 2016.
“The job rate is solid,” said Sean Knox, HiEmployment CEO and president. “It’s a very tight labor market; anyone who is interested in working is working right now. People who are not working are individuals who would have a hard time holding down a job no matter what. So it’s practically zero unemployment rate.”
Statewide, 672,350 people were employed and 18,050 unemployed in August, for a total seasonally adjusted labor force of 690,400.
“There seems to be a little more pressure on the outer islands in regards to the low unemployment rate,” Knox said. “It’s just a smaller pool of candidates to pull from to begin with, and when it draws low like it is right now, the pool is even shallower.”
“Safeway is a relatively new store, and they’re drawing in a least over a hundred jobs, plus new development happening out there at Coconut Grove,” Knox said. “They’re all pulling from the same resource; there’s a finite amount of people on Kauai to take over those jobs. The pressure seems to be more on the entry- level opportunities in retail, the warehouses and lower skilled positions. The opportunities being created aren’t as prevalent in the higher skilled levels, although there are some.”
Among the major industry groupings, job gains took place statewide in professional business services (+1,300), mostly in administrative support, waste management and remediation services, and more specifically temporary help services.
Construction saw small gains in jobs (+400).
“As the communities continue to grow, we just need to keep up with Hawaii’s business needs,” Knox said. “Another big challenge with Hawaii in particular is the income gap and the cost of living component, especially when it comes to housing. An individual making $10 an hour — well soon to be minimum wage $10.10 — and $15, even $20, there’s very few options for them to buy a house if they’re in the middle income area. And low income housing just doesn’t seem to be that low as it relates to the median wages in Hawaii. That’s where there’s a pretty significant gap. Even though the unemployment’s low, the ability to earn a living wage seems to be a struggle.”
Over the year, total statewide non-farm jobs expanded by 3,800 and government employment rose by 500 jobs, while non-agricultural jobs decreased by 2,500.
Job losses for the year occurred in information, manufacturing and financial activities, but especially leisure and hospitality, decreasing by 800. Jobs in educational and health services decreased by 1,300, most notably in ambulatory health care services. Trade, transportation and utilities jobs fell by 1,400.
Compared to one year ago, unemployment benefits increased by 3.7 percent for initial claims and by 4 percent for weekly claims.
WorkWise Kauai has been successful in helping residents find jobs, and recently held a job fair that attracted more than 30 employers.
“Our training provider is Kauai Community College, so we try assist our clientele to gain or increase their skills with other training from the college,” said Adele Manera, temporary assignment branch manager for WorkWise. “We have our database that includes a job-search engine and resume building, and they are welcome to apply.”
WorkWise also offers volunteer internship programs and on-the-job training work experience programs.
“We, as a temporary staffing agenc,y assist a lot of businesses with being that bridge between the employees that are either in transition between work or looking for secondary jobs, and bridging that to employers that have those opportunities employees can fit into,” Knox said.
