HONOLULU - Maui County's unemployment rate edged into double digits for the first time in nearly two decades, according to figures released this week by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
The county's nonseasonally adjusted rate for June was 10 percent, compared to May's 9.3 percent and 4.5 percent in June of 2008.
That is the highest unemployment rate since current data began being kept in January 1990.
Within the county, Maui island was at 9.7 percent, up from May's 9.1 percent; Molokai soared to 17.6 percent from May's 13.7 percent; and Lanai dropped slightly from 11.5 percent to 11.4 percent.
As was reported earlier, the state's overall rate of 7.4 percent was unchanged from the previous month, but well above the 3.9 percent of June 2008. The state remains below the national rate of 9.5 percent
Honolulu was at 6.9 percent in June, up from 6.1 percent in May; while the Big Island rose from 10.4 percent to 11.5 percent; and Kauai climbed from 10.4 percent to 11.1 percent.
