Unemployment down on Maui, up on Molokai and Lanai

Unemployment on Maui dipped slightly from August to September but rose on Molokai and Lanai, state labor data released Thursday showed.

The jobless rate fell from 8.5 to 8.1 percent in Maui County, with Maui seeing a decline from 8.7 to 8.1 percent, according to the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Molokai’s unemployment rate, meanwhile, climbed from 7.9 to 9.9 percent, while Lanai’s went up from 3.5 to 4.7 percent.

Molokai was the only island to see higher unemployment rates than a year ago, when the state was still recovering from the early months of the pandemic. Unemployment in September 2020 was 8.7 percent on Molokai, 20 percent on Lanai and 24.5 percent on Maui.

Statewide and by county, unemployment changed very little from August to September, going from 6.6 to 6.4 percent across the state, from 6.1 to 5.9 percent in Honolulu County, from 6.6 to 6.3 percent in Hawaii County and from 8.9 to 8.5 percent in Kauai County.

Unemployment across the U.S. also tumbled from 5.3 to 4.6 percent.

The rates were not seasonally adjusted, meaning they did not take into account the hiring and layoff patterns that go along with regular events such as the winter holiday and summer vacation seasons.

Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates, which were not available by county, went from 7 to 6.6 percent across the state from August to September and from 5.2 to 4.8 percent nationally.

Hawaii’s labor force also shrank slightly from 647,350 in August to 646,850 in September. Of the workers statewide last month, 603,850 were employed and 43,000 were not.