DBEDT: Steady Economic Growth
The state agency says data shows Hawaii鈥檚 economy “continues to expand.”
The state 听reports that third-quarter data shows Hawaii鈥檚 economy “continues to expand,” according to a press release.
鈥淲e are pleased to see that our labor market condition is still among the best in the nation,鈥 said DBEDT Director Luis P. Salaveria.听鈥淭hrough July of this year, our labor force, employment, and payroll job count are at record high levels, and our unemployment rate was fourth lowest in the nation during the first seven months of this year.鈥
DBEDT sees听steady growth听ahead at 1.9 percent for 2016, and about听2 percent over the next several years.
The听rate is higher than the U.S. growth rate of 1.5 percent.
A lot of the growth is due to all those buildings going up in the Honolulu area.
鈥淐onstruction jobs reached 40,000 in the second quarter of 2016, the same level as the fourth quarter of 2007, when construction was at its previous peak level,鈥 said Chief State Economist Eugene Tian.听鈥淒ue to the labor constraint, building permit applications slowed during the first quarter of 2016, but the value of authorized building permits increased during the second quarter of 2016.”
Tian added, “We expect the value of building permits will pick up more during the second half of the year.鈥
Visitor arrivals and expenditures, which increased increased during the听first seven months of the year, are also a positive听indicator.听
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