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County unemployment rate falls to 2.5% in September

Maui County’s jobless rate for September fell to 2.5 percent, down from 3.3 percent a year earlier, as state unemployment totals dipped to near-record lows, the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said Thursday.

Maui island’s rate was a tick lower at 2.4 percent, down from 3.1 percent in September 2016. Molokai’s jobless rate for the month, 6.7 percent, was down from 7.4 percent a year earlier while Lanai’s rate grew to 4.3 percent from 4.1 percent.

Maui County’s jobless totals are not adjusted for seasonal spikes such as holiday and summer hiring.

Hawaii’s unemployment rate for September was a seasonally adjusted 2.5 percent, a tenth of a percentage point from the record low.

“Only eight months in 1989 and 2006 did we have a lower rate at 2.4 percent, so the rate in September is remarkable from a historical perspective,” said Linda Chu Takayama, director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

There were 671,800 people employed in the month and 16,950 unemployed for a seasonally adjusted workforce of 688,750.

Initial jobless claims fell 9.2 percent in September, compared to 2016. Month over month, initial claims decreased by 3.7 percent.

There was an increase of 3,100 nonagricultural jobs in September compared to August. The educational and health services sector gained 1,100 jobs while trade, transportation and utilities jobs grew by 400.

The largest decline was logged in the leisure and hospitality sector, down 600 jobs, with the bulk of losses coming in food services and drinking places.

Government employment grew by 1,600 jobs, primarily due to an above-average seasonal increase in both the state Department of Education and the University of Hawaii system.

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