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| Hawaii Economic News | |
April 19, 2010 Hawaii’s construction industry lost 2,000 jobs year over year in March, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. The state’s construction jobs totaled 31,200 in March, a 6 percent drop from the 33,200 jobs recorded a year earlier. The latest report by the contractors association said 48 states and the District of Columbia lost construction jobs over the past year, with 28 of them posting double-digit percentage declines. Arkansas and North Dakota were the only states to report marginal gains. Month to month, Hawaii gained 1,400 construction jobs, 4.7 percent more than the 29,800 jobs in February. Read more: Hawaii still losing construction jobs - Pacific Business News (Honolulu): Source: Pacific Business News |
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February 19, 2010 Hawaii hotel occupancy improved to 78.4 percent for the week ending Feb. 13, a 2.1 percentage point increase as compared with the same week last year. Room rates, though, continue to slump, with the statewide rate averaging $178 a night, 5.9 percent lower than in mid-February 2009. Occupancy and room rates for the four main Hawaiian islands were as follows: • Oahu occupancy was up slightly to 82.9 percent, while room rates slid 7.7 percent to $152; • Maui occupancy jumped 9.1 percentage points to 81.5 percent, while room rates dipped 7.2 percent to $235; • Kauai occupancy slipped 1 percentage point to 68.1 percent, while room rates dropped 6 percent to $189; and • Big Island occupancy eased 2.1 percentage points downward to 64.5 percent, while room rates were off 2.1 percent to $170. Nationwide hotel occupancy was down 1.3 percentage points to 53.7 percent, while room rates decreased 4.7 percent to $97. Source: Honolulu Advertiser |
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September 1, 2009 While Hawai'i's hotels have been particularly hard hit by the extended tourism downturn, O'ahu ranked first in hotel occupancy among the top 10 competitive international island destinations with an average occupancy rate of 70.9 percent for the first six months of the year, according to a report from a lodging industry consulting firm. Puerto Rico came in second with a 68.3 percent occupancy rate and the Cayman Islands snagged third place at 66.9 percent. Maui and Kaua'i ranked fifth and ninth, with occupancy rates of 64.0 percent and 62.1 percent, respectively. Source: Honolulu Advertiser |
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August 21, 2009 The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations reported the statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 7 percent as more residents found jobs and moved off jobless rolls. The rate compared with June's revised rate of 7.3 percent. Honolulu's unemployment rate was 6.1 percent. That's up from 3.9 percent a year earlier. The Big Island was the only major island with a double-digit rate. It came in at 10.4 percent for the month, or 4.4 percentage points higher than July 2008. Kaua'i's rate was 9.8 percent, or more than twice a year prior's 4.4 percent. Maui's rate was 8.9 percent, also more than double the 4.2 percent in July 2008. Moloka'i and Lana'i continued to have rates above 10 percent at 16.3 percent and 10.1 percent respectively. The state also released job numbers measured through a separate survey. It showed there were 600,700 nonagricultural jobs in the state last month, or 17,500 less than in July a year ago. Source: Honolulu Advertiser |
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July 29, 2009 Honolulu’s jobless rate was 6.9 percent in June, up from 6.1 percent in May, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The jobless rate was up from 4.1 percent in June 2008. There were 30,900 people out of work in June, compared with 18,800 people without jobs in 2008. National unemployment rates for June were higher than in 2008 in all 372 metropolitan areas. The national unemployment rate in June was 9.7 percent, up from 5.7 percent in June 2008, and up from 9.1 percent in May. Bismarck, N.D., had the lowest rate for the month at 3.8 percent. El Centro, Calif., continued to have the highest unemployment rate at 27.5 percent. Source: Pacific Business News |
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July 12, 2009 Hawai'i's millionaire household ranks shrank between 2008 and 2009, but the state continues to lead the rest of nation in the percentage of folks who are millionaires. Hawai'i's millionaire household ranks shrank between 2008 and 2009, but the state continues to lead the rest of nation in the percentage of folks who are millionaires. Mississippi had the fewest millionaires with around 34,000 out of 1.1 million households. Hawai'i has been No. 1 three times in the last four years, the exception being 2007 when Hawai'i placed fourth. Source: Honolulu Advertiser |
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July 2, 2009 Hawaii hotel room rates continue to drop by double digits on most islands. For the week ending June 27, the statewide average was $175 a night, down 17.4 percent from the same week last year. Hotel occupancy slipped as well across the state, down 4 percentage points to 71.6 percent. Occupancy and room rates for the four main Hawaiian islands were as follows: • Oahu occupancy dipped 2.6 percentage points to 76.1 percent, while room rates declined 14.8 percent to $150; • Maui occupancy edged up 0.7 percentage points to 70.4 percent, while room rates plunged 25.1 percent to $229; • Kauai occupancy was down 11.7 percentage points to 69 percent, while room rates plummeted 18.1 percent $184; and • Big Island occupancy fell 11.8 percentage points to 60.2 percent, while room rates dropped 7.2 percent to $170. Nationally, hotel occupancy fell 6.2 percentage points to 65.4 percent, while room rates dropped 9.5 percent to $97. Source: Pacific Business New |
June 19, 2009 Hawaii’s unemployment rate was 7.4 percent in May, up from 6.9 percent in April and up 3.8 percentage points from a year ago. The Hawaii jobless rate is now at its highest level since July 1977, when 7.4 percent of workers were out of jobs. The rate is up from 3.6 percent in May 2008. There were 21,000 more people out of work than there were the previous May, the U.S. Department of Labor said Friday. There were 649,000 people in the work force and 47,800 people without jobs in May. Kauai’s jobless rate more than tripled from 3.4 percent to 10.3 percent over the year. Molokai had the state’s highest unemployment rate at 13.6 percent, up from 5.1 percent a year ago. Maui County’s jobless rate jumped from 3.5 percent in May 2008 to 9.2 percent in May 2009. On the Big Island, the rate rose from 4.9 percent to 10.4 percent.
Oahu had the state’s lowest rate at 6 percent, up from 3.2 percent in May 2008. Hawaii’s jobless rate is still below the national figure, which rose to 9.4 percent in May, up from 8.9 percent in April. California’s rate was 11.5 percent. Source: Pacific Business New |
June 11, 2009 Honolulu ranked as the 25th most expensive city in the world in a cost of living survey by ECA International, a firm that helps companies determine salaries for employees being assigned overseas. Honolulu was the second-most expensive U.S. city after Manhattan, which ranked 17th on the list. ECA said a rallying dollar last year pushed up cost of living in U.S. cities compared with many of the other 370 cities surveyed. Russia's ruble fell against the dollar, resulting in Moscow coming in at No. 23 compared with fifth a year earlier. Other U.S. cities making ECA's top 50 list were New York City outside of Manhattan (No. 31), Los Angeles (No. 38) and Washington, D.C. (No. 46). Source: Honolulu Advertiser |
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June 1, 2009 Hawai'i hotels continued to struggle in April, with occupancy dropping for the 14th month in a row. Hospitality Advisors LLC called it "another dismal month" as occupancy fell 5.1 percentage points to 64.1 percent. It was the lowest occupancy rate for April since the survey began in 1987. "We've been in this record low territory for the last three months," said Hospitality Advisors President and CEO Joseph Toy. The hotel industry avoided even lower occupancy rates by discounting rooms and offering added amenities. The average daily room rate dropped by 9.3 percent to $179.09 in April. The decrease in occupancy and decline in room rates resulted in a 16.1 percent drop to $114.78 in revenue per available room, a key indicator of hotel profitability. The collapse of Aloha and ATA airlines in March 2008 and the global recession have taken a toll on the state's No. 1 industry. Last week, the state reported visitor arrivals in April fell by 1.3 percent and visitor spending decreased by 12.3 percent from a year ago. Hospitality Advisors' Toy predicted tourism won't rebound until the middle of next year. He added, "We may see the bottom this year." The one bright spot, Toy said, is the state's occupancy rates are still better than many other visitor destinations. "Nationally, this is happening, it's not just Hawai'i." Source: Honolulu Advertiser |
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May 23, 2009 Hawai'i in April experienced its first unemployment rate decline in 15 months, but officials said it doesn't signal an end to the state's economic travails. The April rate was 6.9 percent, or down slightly from March's seasonally adjusted 7.1 percent, the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations reported yesterday. Hawai'i's unemployment rate continued to be lower than the national average, which was 8.9 percent last month. Hawai'i's jobless rate has been more than 6.5 percent for three months, a level that's not been reached in more than three decades. The high unemployment rate has boosted turnout at various job fairs held during the past year. Job hunters turned out en masse Wednesday at the WorkForce 2009 job fair at the Neal Blaisdell Center. Organizer Beth Busch said the 6,500 attendees was the largest turnout of any regular job fair she's directed in the past 13 years. The April unemployment rate was nonetheless a respite from the rate's uphill climb. The last time unemployment declined was the start of last year, when the January rate dipped to 3.0 percent from 3.1 percent the prior month. Since that time, Hawai'i unemployment has more than doubled as the state suffered a series of economic setbacks primarily brought on by the national economic downturn, higher oil prices, the credit market crunch and Wall Street's turmoil. During that time, Hawai'i has remained below the national joblessness average and in April had the 17th-lowest rate in the country. It also was one of 21 states nationally where rates declined from March. Hawai'i's decline came as the number of unemployed shrank from March's 45,500 to 44,400 last month. The state also released non-seasonally adjusted unemployment showing the Neighbor Islands continue to experience more joblessness than O'ahu. Unemployment fell on all islands except for Moloka'i and Lana'i. By island:
Source: Honolulu Advertiser |
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April 18, 2009 The unemployment rate jumped up to 7.1% for state of Hawaii in March which translates into 45,850 people out of work, the highest in 31 years. The unemployment rate on Oahu is 5.8%, 8.9% on Maui, 10.2% on Big Island and 10.3% in Kauai. Nationally, Hawaii's rate was the 19th lowest among states and well below the 8.5 percent average rate for the country. Michigan was the highest at 12.6 percent, with seven other states having unemployment rates of 10 percent or more. Source: Honolulu Advertiser |
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