Hawaii Island’s unemployment rate dropped into the single digits in December, data released Monday by the state shows.
During the final month of a tumultuous 2020 that saw unemployment skyrocket from 2.9% in March to over 23% in April as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, the Orchid Isle recorded an unemployment rate of 8.9%. That’s down from 10.1% in November and 13.5% in both October and September.
Like Hawaii Island, the statewide unemployment rate also dropped into the single digits to 9% in December from 10.4% in November, according to the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. The City and County of Honolulu saw its rate drop to 8% from 9.1%, Maui to 13% from 16.3% and Kauai to 12.3% from 13.9%.
Nationwide, unemployment held steady in December at 6.7%. In December 2019, 3.6% of Americans were out of work.