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Local Area Unemployment Statistics, State and Area Employment, JOLTS · Hawaii

How is the job market in Hawaii?

The unemployment rate in Hawaii was 2.8% in the month ended , against 4.2% for the United States.

Hawaii, unemployment, each month

December 2015 to September 2026As published, seasonally adjusted where the table says soNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

Hawaii, unemployment, each month, one row for each measure
  • Unemployment rate2.8%2.0% to 22.5%
  • Participation rate61.3%55.3% to 62.4%
  • Employment-population ratio59.6%44.7% to 60.8%

Hawaii, people, each month

December 2015 to September 2026As published, seasonally adjusted where the table says soEach row has a scale of its own, printed under its nameNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

Hawaii, people, each month, one row for each measure
  • Labor force, thousands694.9622.9 to 699.5
  • Employed, thousands675.5503.5 to 682.7
  • Unemployed, thousands19.413.6 to 145.9

Hawaii, jobs and pay, each month

December 2015 to September 2026As published, seasonally adjusted where the table says soEach row has a scale of its own, printed under its nameNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

Hawaii, jobs and pay, each month, one row for each measure
  • Nonfarm payrolls, thousands642.4508.1 to 663.4
  • Average hourly earnings$41.08$25.51 to $41.08
  • Average weekly hours32.231.8 to 34.3

Hawaii, openings and turnover rates, each month

December 2015 to September 2026As published, seasonally adjusted where the table says soNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

Hawaii, openings and turnover rates, each month, one row for each measure
  • Job openings rate2.9%2.9% to 7.4%
  • Hires rate2.8%2.6% to 7.1%
  • Quits rate2.0%1.4% to 4.1%
  • Layoffs and discharges rate0.8%0.5% to 12.4%
  • Total separations rate3.1%2.5% to 15.1%

Each row is one measure of Hawaii over the last ten years, one month to a point, with its newest value and its range printed beside it and a dashed line at zero. A gap is a month with no value. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

Observed .

Hawaii, openings and turnover, each month

December 2015 to September 2026As published, seasonally adjusted where the table says soEach row has a scale of its own, printed under its nameNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

Hawaii, openings and turnover, each month, one row for each measure
  • Job openings, thousands1917 to 46
  • Hires, thousands1813 to 37
  • Quits, thousands138 to 21
  • Layoffs and discharges, thousands53 to 63
  • Total separations, thousands2015 to 77

Each row is one measure of Hawaii over the last ten years, one month to a point, with its newest value and its range printed beside it and a dashed line at zero. A gap is a month with no value. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

Observed .

Right now

The unemployment rate in Hawaii was 2.8% in September 2026, ranking 47th highest of 51 among the states and the District of Columbia.

Over a year it is up 0.7 percentage points (ours). The rate for the United States was 4.2% in the same month. The source marks this value preliminary.

The unemployment rate in September 2026 was the highest since December 2023.

See every measure with its value and rank

Jobs and payOurs: change and rank

Nonfarm payroll employment was 642.4 thousand in September 2026, up 0.1% over a year (ours), 43rd highest of 51.

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private payrolls was $41.08 in September 2026, up 9.1% over a year (ours), 5th highest of 51.

See the payrolls, hours and earnings

Job openings and turnoverOurs: change and rank

The job openings rate was 2.9% in December 2025, down 1.0 percentage point over a year (ours), 50th highest of 51.

The hires rate was 2.8% in December 2025, down 0.2 percentage points over a year (ours), 47th highest of 51.

The quits rate was 2.0% in December 2025, down 0.2 percentage points over a year (ours), 31st highest of 51.

See every openings and turnover figure

Understanding the labor market of Hawaii

Where it stands today

The unemployment rate in Hawaii was 2.8% in September 2026.

What do the figures for Hawaii measure?

This page gathers the labor market figures of Hawaii that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes: how many people are in the labor force, at work and unemployed, how many payroll jobs there are and what they pay, and how many jobs are open and how many people were hired, quit or lost a job.

Read more

The unemployment figures come from Local Area Unemployment Statistics, a model that BLS runs for each state every month. The payroll jobs, hours and earnings come from a monthly survey of employers, and the job openings and labor turnover from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).

What 500metrics adds: each figure's rank among the fifty states and the District of Columbia, its change over a year, the last time it was higher and lower, the nation's figure beside a rate where BLS gives one, and the last ten years of every figure as small charts.

The numbers behind the chart

What are the latest figures for Hawaii?19 measures, each in its own newest month
Hawaii: the newest month of each measure, its change over a year (ours), its rank among the states and the District of Columbia, the nation's value and the last months it was higher and lower (ours)
MeasureSectionMonthValueChange over a yearRankUnited StatesLast higherLast lower
Unemployment rateUnemployment2.8%+0.7 pts47 of 514.2%
Participation rateUnemployment61.3%+0.7 pts32 of 5161.8%
Employment-population ratioUnemployment59.6%+0.3 pts24 of 5159.2%
Labor forcePeople694.9 thousand+1.1%42 of 51n/a
EmployedPeople675.5 thousand+0.4%41 of 51n/a
UnemployedPeople19.4 thousand+33.5%45 of 51n/a
Nonfarm payrollsJobs and pay642.4 thousand+0.1%43 of 51n/a
Average hourly earningsJobs and pay$41.08+9.1%5 of 51n/anone since 2007
Average weekly hoursJobs and pay32.2 hours−2.1%50 of 51n/a
Job openings rateOpenings and turnover rates2.9%−1.0 pts50 of 514.0%
Hires rateOpenings and turnover rates2.8%−0.2 pts47 of 513.3%
Quits rateOpenings and turnover rates2.0%−0.2 pts31 of 512.0%
Layoffs and discharges rateOpenings and turnover rates0.8%−0.3 pts39 of 511.1%
Total separations rateOpenings and turnover rates3.1%−0.3 pts34 of 513.3%
Job openingsOpenings and turnover19 thousand−26.9%47 of 51n/a
HiresOpenings and turnover18 thousand−5.3%44 of 51n/a
QuitsOpenings and turnover13 thousand−7.1%43 of 51n/a
Layoffs and dischargesOpenings and turnover5 thousand−28.6%45 of 51n/a
Total separationsOpenings and turnover20 thousand−9.1%44 of 51n/a

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

What is the unemployment rate in each county of Hawaii?4 counties, September 2026, by name
Hawaii: the unemployment rate of each county in September 2026 and a year before, not seasonally adjusted (the change ours)
CountyRateA year beforeChange
Hawaii County3.5%2.5%+1.0 pts
Honolulu County/city3.0%2.2%+0.8 pts
Kauai County5.1%2.1%+3.0 pts
Maui County3.1%2.4%+0.7 pts
What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite

What this number cannot tell you

  • The unemployment figures of a state are estimates from a model, not a count. BLS revises the latest months as more data arrive and revises the past years every March.
  • The payroll figures are estimates from a survey of employers. BLS revises them twice after the first release and once a year, when it benchmarks them to the count of jobs covered by unemployment insurance. Average hourly earnings and average weekly hours are for all employees on private payrolls and are not seasonally adjusted.
  • The state figures of job openings and labor turnover come from a survey whose estimates for a single state have a larger sampling error than the nation's. Each figure shows its own newest month, which can be older than the month of the unemployment rate.
  • A rank is among the fifty states and the District of Columbia in the same month, highest value first, and a large state ranks high on a count of people or jobs. The changes, the ranks and the months a figure was last higher and lower are ours, worked out from the values BLS publishes.
  • The county rates are not seasonally adjusted, so each county's rate is set beside its own rate a year before.

Observed . Checked .

How to cite this

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Current Population Survey; State and Area Employment, Hours, and Earnings; Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey), labor market of Hawaii, through September 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "How is the job market in Hawaii?", https://500metrics.com/states/hawaii.

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