Hawaii Island’s unemployment rate dropped to 13.7% in June, down from a record high 22.3% in May, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to keep thousands of people out of work.
Statewide, 13.9% of Hawaii’s labor force was without work in June, equivalent to about 18,650 unemployed people, according to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. That’s up signficantly from June 2019 when the state reported an unemployment rate of 2.7%.
Around the state, Honolulu City and County saw its unemployment rate drop from 20.8% in May to 12.5% in June. Kauai’s unemployment rate was down to 20.2% from 31.5% while Maui’s rate dropped from 34% to 22.6%.
“It’s a big improvement, ” Eugene Tian, chief economist for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, told The Honolulu-Star Advertiser. “It indicates that the economy is improving. This is June data, so this is the result of the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) with more businesses opening. The employment number (which rose to 527,600 from 479,600 in May) has actually increased by more than 10%, so the economy is recovering and improving.”
With more businesses reopening and the 14-day quarantine for trans-Pacific travelers due to end on Sept. 1, the unemployment rate should go below double digits by the end of the year.
“I think it will be single digits because now you’re without tourism, ” Tian said. “When tourism opens in September, there will be more businesses open and more people hired. It will be better than today.”
Nationwide, unemployment decreased from 13.3% in May to 11.1% in June. That’s up from a year ago when just 3.7% of the nation’s workforce was without work.
Meanwhile, the state on Thursday said it has issued more than $2 billion in unemployment benefits since March 1.
The department said more than $2.1 billion has been paid over 2,030,502 weeks claimed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Ninety-one percent (91%) of the valid unemployment insurance claims that have come in since the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic have been processed and paid out by the DLIR. Although it appears that the number of claims requiring departmental action is stable, we are still receiving nearly 8,000 new claims a week,” said Deputy Director Anne Perreira-Eustaquio.