Data Show Hawaii’s Economy Is Slowing Down
Hawaii’s economic growth rate significantly lagged the nation as a whole in 2018.
More signs that Hawaii鈥檚 economy is slowing down emerged Tuesday when the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released its .
Despite its booming tourism industry, the value of goods and services produced in Hawaii grew at just 1 percent in 2018, the BEA reported. That compared to a U.S. rate of 2.9 percent and placed Hawaii 41stamong the 50 states in terms of GDP growth.
Hawaii significantly lagged other western states, which were led by Washington, where the economy grew by 5.7 percent in 2018. Although Alaska fared worse than Hawaii for the year, the state鈥檚 economy began to boom in the last quarter as rising energy prices drove growth in the mining sector.
The report was consistent with a by the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, which also predicted a slowing of Hawaii鈥檚 economy. Among other factors, UHERO pointed to softening visitor spending, even as the number of visitors to Hawaii remained strong.
Hawaii鈥檚 lackluster growth in 2018 marked a continuation of a downward growth trend since 2015, when the economy grew at 3.4 percent.
