Hawaii’s unemployment rate inches higher to 3.5 percent

HONOLULU — The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations says Hawaii’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 3.5 percent last month.

The department said Friday the rate was 0.1 percentage point higher than the jobless rate in June.

The agency says the food service and dining industries added jobs, as did education and health services. The construction sector lost jobs.

Hawaii’s jobless rate was last this high in August of last year. The rate fell to 3.1 percent in February and March before inching back upward.