Hawaii’s jobless rate rose to 7.4 percent in May

The Hawaii unemployment rate was 7.4 percent in May, up from 6.9 percent in April and up 3.8 percentage points from a year ago. The jobless rate is now at its highest level since July 1977, when 7.4 percent of workers were out of jobs.

The rate grew from 3.6 percent in May 2008, with 21,000 more people out of work this year than last, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Of 649,000 people in the work force, 47,800 were without jobs in May.

• Kauai’s jobless rate more than tripled from 3.4 percent to 10.3 percent over the year.

• Molokai had the state’s highest unemployment rate at 13.6 percent, up from 5.1 percent a year ago.

• Maui County’s jobless rate jumped from 3.5 percent in May 2008 to 9.2 percent in May 2009. On the Big Island, the rate rose from 4.9 percent to 10.4 percent.
• Oahu had the state’s lowest rate at 6 percent, up from 3.2 percent in May 2008.

Hawaii’s jobless rate is still below the national figure, which rose to 9.4 percent in May, up from 8.9 percent in April. California’s rate was 11.5 percent.

In April, the jobless rate for Honolulu was 5.7 percent, down just 0.1 percent from March. A year ago the April unemployment rate was just 2.9 percent. This year, there were 25,600 people out of work in April, compared to 13,200 in 2008.

Nationally, the April jobless rates were higher than in 2008 in all 372 metropolitan areas. The national rate in April was 8.6 percent, up from 4.8 percent in April 2008, and down from 9 percent in March. In May, the nation’s unemployment rate was 9.4 percent, up a full half percent from 8.9 percent in April,

Iowa City, Iowa, had the lowest rate for the month at 3.2 percent. El Centro, Calif., continued to have the highest unemployment rate at 26.9 percent. Since the recession’s start in December 2007, the unemployment number has risen by 7 million, and the unemployment rate has increased 4.5 percentage points.

Employers announced 111,182 planned job cuts in May, 16 percent fewer than in April. In the same month a year ago 103,522 layoffs were announced, according to Challenger Gray & Christmas Inc. So far in 2009, employers have announced 822,282 job cuts, more than double the 394,193 announced through May last year, the company said.

But while layoffs cuts exceeded last year's pace, May was the fourth consecutive month with a decline in job-cut announcements, which peaked at 241,749 in January. However, said John Challenger, CEO of Challenger Gray & Christmas, “This decline in job cuts could be short-lived. The second quarter is typically the lowest quarter of the year when it comes to job cuts. Corporate downsizing may continue to remain slow during the summer months, but if the past is any indication, we could see the pace accelerate again in the latter half of the third quarter through the end of the year."