Hawaii economy sees some ups, some downs

Horizon ups fuel surcharge fee, matching Matson’s increase

Horizon Lines Inc. announced on May 18 it will raise its fuel surcharge on June 12 for shipments between Hawaii and the mainland by 4 percentage points to 47.5 percent, matching rival Matson Navigation Co.'s increase for the same period.

Pasha Hawaii Transport Lines will not follow its larger competitors in increasing its fuel surcharge Pasha said yesterday it will leave its surcharge at 43.5 percent. The previous increase by all three ocean transportation firms was 8.5 percentage points and took effect May 1.

Horizon's fuel surcharge currently is 43.5 percent. The carrier has typically matched Matson, the state's largest ocean shipper, when it raises or decreases the surcharge with the fluctuations in oil prices. Matson announced in early May that it would boost the fee to 47.5 percent, the highest since the company first imposed a surcharge in 1999. The new increase follows 8.5 percentage-point increases in March and May.

> Inflation hits 30-month high – Consumers paid more for gas and food in April, lifting inflation to its highest level in 2 1/2 years. But inflationary pressures have begun to ease this month, and analysts say some prices could taper off by summer. The Consumer Price Index increased 0.4 percent in April, the Labor Department said. In the past 12 months, prices have risen 3.2 percent. That's the biggest year-over-year gain since November 2007 through October 2008.

> Mortgage rates dip – Fixed mortgage rates have fallen to their lowest levels of the year, giving Americans more incentive to buy homes or refinance their loans. Freddie Mac said on May 12 the average rate on the 30-year loan fell to 4.63 percent from 4.71 percent. The average rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage slipped to 3.82 percent from 3.89 percent. Both are at their lowest points since December. It marked the fourth straight weekly decline.

> Japan Air to restore Narita-Oahu flight – Good news for Hawaii’s tourism and economy: Japan Airlines plans to return to its regular schedule of six daily flights between Honolulu and Japan beginning May 23. The carrier, which had reduced its Narita-Honolulu service to two daily flights from three during parts of March, April and May following the earthquake and tsunami, said its last canceled flight between the two cities will be Sunday. JAL also offers daily service between Honolulu and Tokyo's Haneda International Airport, Kansai International Airport in Osaka, and Nagoya. Winston Lee, Japan Airlines' spokesman in Hawaii, said the six-flights-a-day schedule will hold through June and any changes to the airline’s July schedule would be announced in June.

> More employers line up for job fair -- The WorkForce Job Fair at Blaisdell Center on May 18 featured recruiters from more than 160 employers, including Disney's Aulani Resort & Spa. The number of companies and organizations with booths was about 25 percent more than at the last job fair in January, indicating that businesses are looking to expand their payrolls as the economy continues to improve. In addition to the 800 employees that Disney is hiring for the Aug. 29 resort opening, a Disney subcontractor was looking to hire an additional 100 lifeguards for the 21-acre property at the Ko Olina resort in West Oahu.

> Foreclosure sales continue to dampen housing market – Sales of Hawaii homes that were in foreclosure slowed in the first three months of the year, but their impact on the state’s housing market remained relatively high, a new report released today shows. There were 362 homes in foreclosure that were sold during the first quarter, which was down 25 percent from 480 sales in the same period last year, according to the report from RealtyTrac. However, because there were fewer home sales overall, the share of foreclosure sales rose. Foreclosure property represented 13.7 percent of all first-quarter home sales, or about one out of seven sales. A year earlier, the figure was 12.4 percent, or about one out of eight sales.