Maui County Unemployment Fell in December


February 5, 2016

Maui County’s unemployment rate was down to 3.1 percent in December, compared to 3.8 percent in the same month in 2014, according to labor statistics from the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Given the impressive performance of the Maui’s visitor industry, this news shouldn’t be a big surprise. This might be of interest to you if you’re thinking about buying Maui real estate, whether you plan to live and work here full time, or if you want a part-time getaway that you can rent to visitors when you’re not using it. Back to the statistics!

For those who aren’t all that familiar with Maui County, it includes the neighbor islands of Lanai and Molokai. The island of Maui alone had a slightly lower unemployment rate than the county as a whole. Maui’s unemployment was 3 percent in December, down from 3.6 percent in the same month of 2014.

Meanwhile, Molokai had the highest unemployment rate in the county at 6.4 percent, but that was still an impressive drop from 10.5 percent in December of the year before. Lanai was at 3.6 percent in December, which was up from 2.3 percent in the same month of 2014. Analysts attribute that to the closing of the Four Seasons Resort Lanai for its period of renovations.

One interesting tidbit in the report was that the state’s unemployment rate was at 3.2 percent in December, meaning the island of Maui is below that average. Of course the state’s rate was seasonally adjusted, while the individual county and island rates were not. Regardless of those nuances, it was even more telling that the nation’s unemployment rate was 5 percent in December. The last time Hawaii’s unemployment rate was so low was in January of 2008.

As for the other islands, Honolulu’s unemployment rate was 2.7 percent in December, while Kauai’s was at 3.5 percent and the Big Island was at 3.7 percent. So, the island of Maui had the lowest unemployment rate after Honolulu.

For those of you who are concerned about an economy that relies heavily on tourism, you might be interested to know where the job growth was in December. Leisure and hospitality jobs were up 900, but professional and business services were up by 800, construction was up by 500, educational and health services were also up by 500, other services were up by 200 and financial activities were up by 100. Government was up by 800, mostly in the state Department of Education.

Hopefully these details will help you get a strong sense of the economic landscape in Hawaii, so you can make informed decisions on any Maui real estate investments you might be considering. If you need assistance with your real estate search, you’ll find our contact information at the bottom of the page. Mahalo!



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