The local economy of Hawaii and its counties, metro areas and cities, from official US government data.
Unemployment rate
2.7%
August 2026, 2.1% a year ago
Average weekly pay
$1,387
Q1 2026, 643,896 jobs
New homes permitted
3,333
Last 12 months to August 2026
Net people moving in
-6,432
2022 to 2023
Newest data: -. Not seasonally adjusted: compare with the same month a year earlier. Click a row for its history.
The newest unemployment rate, pay, new home permits, moves and gas price for Hawaii, updated as new official numbers come out.
Unemployment for Hawaii is seasonally adjusted; for its counties, metro areas and cities it is not, so compare a month with the same month a year earlier. Pay covers all jobs that pay into unemployment insurance. Building permits count homes approved to be built, not homes sold. Moves count households by where they filed their tax returns in two years in a row.
The unemployment rate in Hawaii was 2.7% in August 2026 (seasonally adjusted, preliminary), compared with 2.1% a year earlier. 673,939 people were employed out of a labor force of 692,738. Among its counties, Kauai County had the lowest rate (2.5%) and Hawaii County the highest (3.4%, not seasonally adjusted).
Average weekly pay in Hawaii was $1,387 in Q1 2026, up 1.7% from a year earlier, across 643,896 jobs at 64,578 business locations.
Building permits were issued for 253 new homes in Hawaii in August 2026 (190 single-family and 47 in buildings with 5 or more units). From January to August the total was 2,389, down 4.7% from the same months last year, and 3,333 in the last 12 months. The most homes were permitted in Honolulu County (1,560), Hawaii County (1,066), Maui County (588) over the last 12 months.
No, more people moved out than in. From 2022 to 2023, 48,085 people moved to Hawaii and 54,517 moved away, a net loss of 6,432 (-5.6 per 1,000 residents). Most newcomers came from California, Texas, Washington, and most people who left went to California, Washington, Texas.
The weekly survey does not publish a separate price for Hawaii. In its region, West Coast except California, regular gasoline averaged $5.15 per gallon in the week of September 28, 2026.