Hawaii's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 2.7% in July 2026, near its highest level in almost two years. The rate increased from 2.6% in June, according to the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. The unemployment rate is the share of the labor force without a job and actively seeking work. Hawaii's increase signals some weakening, but the state's rate remained well below the national rate.
Table of Contents
- Why 2.7% is near a two-year high
- More people entered the labor force
- Payrolls still posted modest growth
- How Hawaii compares with the nation
Why 2.7% is near a two-year high
Hawaii last recorded a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 2.7% in October and November 2024. The rate later fell to 2.1% in September 2025 before beginning its latest climb, according to DBEDT's historical state data.
The July rate was also 0.5 percentage point higher than the 2.2% recorded a year earlier. That year-over-year movement provides stronger evidence of a cooling labor market than the smaller monthly increase alone.
More people entered the labor force
Hawaii had approximately 672,500 employed residents and 18,350 unemployed residents in July. Together, they produced a seasonally adjusted labor force of about 690,900 people. The labor force grew from 687,800 in February to 690,900 in July.
Employment increased by only 300 during that period, while unemployment rose from 15,700 to about 18,400, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Hawaii data. Those figures indicate that most of the labor-force growth was not matched by employment growth. The higher unemployment rate therefore reflects more people counted as unemployed, not a large recorded decline in the number of employed residents.
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Payrolls still posted modest growth
Hawaii's nonfarm payroll employment reached 642,700 in July, up 1,200 jobs, or 0.2%, from a year earlier. That small gain can coexist with a rising unemployment rate because the two figures come from separate surveys. The unemployment rate measures the employment status of residents in the labor force.
The payroll count measures jobs reported by employers, so the two series cover different units and can move in different directions. Readers should not treat the 1,200-job increase as proof that every part of the labor market improved. It shows limited payroll growth while the household-based unemployment measure weakened.
How Hawaii compares with the nation
Hawaii's 2.7% rate remained 1.4 percentage points below the U.S. seasonally adjusted rate of 4.1%. The state therefore continued to report substantially lower unemployment than the country as a whole, despite its recent increase.
The July statewide rate is preliminary and model-based, so it may be revised. Seasonal adjustment removes recurring calendar-related patterns to make month-to-month comparisons more meaningful. Hawaii's unadjusted July rate was 2.9%. County rates are also unadjusted, according to DBEDT's July release, so readers should compare them with the 2.9% unadjusted statewide figure—not the headline 2.7% rate.
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