Hawaii’s unemployment rate drops to 4.1% in March from 4.2%

HONOLULU — Hawaii’s unemployment rate fell to a seasonally adjusted 4.1% in March from 4.2% the previous month, the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism said Thursday.

The drop continues a downward trend that’s been in place as the state slowly recovers from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Nationally, the seasonally adjusted jobless rate fell to 3.6% last month from 3.8% in February.

The department said the leisure and hospitality sector added jobs, along with construction and professional and business services. The retail and wholesale trade sectors lost positions, as did health care and social assistance fields.

Hawaii’s jobless rate jumped from 2.2% before the pandemic to 22.4% in April 2020 as the spread of COVID-19 prompted the state to impose a quarantine on travelers. The rate has been gradually declining since.