Hawaii’s unemployment rate keeps hovering around multiyear lows even as job and funding cuts by the Trump administration continue to roil the U.S. economy.
The state’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate in March dipped to 2.9% after holding at 3.0% for the previous eight months, according to recent data from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
The March number returned to the 2.9% level it was at from January through June 2024 before inching up to 3.0% in July. The last time the rate was lower than 2.9% was in July 2023, when it was at 2.8%.
“The unemployment statistics indicate that the Hawaii labor market continues improving,” Eugene Tian, DBEDT chief state economist, said in an email. “Though not fully recovered to the 2019 levels, the March labor force, employment, and labor force participation rate were all the highest since March 2020.”
Tian said DBEDT expects the state’s unemployment rate to remain stable and average 2.9% for this year.
Hawaii’s 2.9% unemployment rate in March was tied for fifth lowest in the country, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Only South Dakota, 1.8%; North Dakota and Vermont, both at 2.6%; and Montana, 2.7%, had lower rates. Nebraska was tied with Hawaii at 2.9%.
The state’s labor force, which includes those who are employed, those who are unemployed but actively seeking work and those who are self-employed, increased to 686,500 in March from 684,800 in February.
Those employed edged up to 666,600 from 664,500, while the number of people unemployed decreased to 19,900 from 20,300.
Nationally, the unemployment rate rose to 4.2% in March from 4.1% in February. It held at 4.2% in April, according to the latest U.S. report, which came out Friday. State figures for April won’t be released until May 20.
Hawaii’s nonfarm payrolls, calculated from a mail survey of employers, increased by 2,500 in March from February. The leisure and hospitality sector showed the largest increase at 1,300.
“Over half of the increase was from tourism,” Tian said. “The tourism industry expanded in March with visitor arrivals increasing 3% and visitor spending increasing 10.3%.”
Tian said the number of federal civilian jobs and state government jobs diverged during the month.
“In March, federal civilian jobs decreased by 300 after declining 300 in February,” Tian said. “This might be attributed to the federal government cuts. However, the state government job count in March at 74,700 was the highest since January 2019.”
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell in the state’s four major counties from the previous month. State and national labor force data is adjusted for seasonal factors, but the county jobs data is not seasonally adjusted and thus does not take into account variations such as the winter holiday and summer vacation seasons.
Honolulu County’s rate declined to 2.3% from 2.7%, Hawaii County fell to 2.7% from 3.2%, Kauai County dropped to 2.3% from 2.6% and Maui County decreased to 3.0% from 3.4%. Within Maui County, Maui’s rate fell to 3.0% from 3.4%, Molokai’s rate decreased to 2.1% from 2.6% and Lanai’s rate fell to 3.5% from 3.7%.
HOLDING STEADY
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate over the past year:
HAWAII
March 2025 2.9%
February 2025 3.0%
March 2025 2.9%
January 2025 3.0%
December 2024 3.0%
November 2024 3.0%
October 2024 3.0%
September 2024 3.0%
August 2024 3.0%
July 2024 3.0%
June 2024 2.9%
May 2024 2.9%
April 2024 2.9%
March 2024 2.9%
U.S.
March 2025 4.2%
February 2025 4.1%
January 2025 4.0%
December 2024 4.1%
November 2024 4.2%
October 2024 4.1%
September 2024 4.1%
August 2024 4.2%
July 2024 4.2%
June 2024 4.1%
May 2024 4.0%
April 2024 3.9%
March 2024 3.9%
Source: State Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
