Hawaii unemployment dips despite six mass layoffs

Hawaii saw six mass layoffs in April, resulting in 420 people filing for initial unemployment insurance. That compares to five mass layoffs recorded in March, when 659 people filed initial unemployment claims, according to seasonally unadjusted data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bureau did not identify the names of the companies involved in the layoffs.

There were a total of 1,564 mass layoffs across the nation in April, resulting in 143,927 workers filing for initial unemployment insurance, according to seasonally adjusted data. That’s up from the 1,286 mass layoffs in March that resulted in 118,523 workers filing initial claims.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics records a mass layoff when 50 or more individuals working for a single employer file initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits during a five-week period.

Meanwhile, Hawaii’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the month of April was 6.1 percent, down from the 6.3 percent recorded in March and 6.7 percent in April 2010, according to the Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

That compares to the United States’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate last month at 9 percent, which was up from the 8.8 percent recorded in March but lower than the 9.8 percent recorded in April 2010.

In Hawaii, there were 38,500 individuals unemployed out of a work force of 635,400 last month. That compares to 42,150 people out of work out of a work force of 629,000 in April 2010. Unemployment rates for Hawaii’s counties also improved last month when compared to April 2010, according to seasonally unadjusted data from the department. The jobless rates by county are:

• City and County of Honolulu: 4.6 percent, down from 5.4 percent.
• Hawaii County: 8.9 percent, down from 9.5 percent.
• Kauai County: 7.7 percent, down from 8.9 percent.
• Maui County: 7.1 percent, down from 8.4 percent.