KAILUA-KONA — Hawaii County’s unemployment rate edged up slightly in March, the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations reports.
Some 3.7% of the island’s 87,850 person workforce was without work during March, up slightly from February when the rate was 3.6%. In March 2018, the rate was 2.6%.
Also recording 0.1% increases in unemployment were Honolulu City and County and Kauai County. During March, 3% of Kauai’s workforce was without work while 2.7% of Oahu workers were out of a job.
The only county in the state reporting a decrease in unemployment, albeit small, was Maui. During March, the multiple-island county notched an unemployment rate of 2.8%, down from 2.9% in February.
Statewide, the unemployment rate increased from 2.7% in February to 2.8% in March. In March 2018, the state’s jobless rate was 2.2%.
Nationwide, unemployment went unchanged during February and March, holding steady at 3.8%. Last March, 4% of U.S. workers were unemployed.