Hawaii Island’s unemployment rate dropped into the single digits in December, according to data released Monday by the state.
Hawaii Island’s unemployment rate dropped into the single digits in December, according to data released Monday by the state.
During the final month of a tumultuous 2020 that saw unemployment skyrocket from 2.9% in March to more than 23% in April as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, the Orchid Isle recorded an unemployment rate of 8.9%. That’s down from 10.1% in November and 13.5% in October and September.
Like Hawaii Island, the statewide unemployment rate also dropped into the single digits to 9% in December from 10.4% in November, according to the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. The City and County of Honolulu saw its rate drop to 8% from 9.1%, Maui to 13% from 16.3% and Kauai to 12.3% from 13.9%.
Nationwide, unemployment remained steady at 6.7% in December. A year earlier, just 3.6% of Americans were out of work.
