The State of Hawaii at a Glance
Hawaii, "The Aloha State", comprises a chain of 137 islands in the Central Pacific, including eight major islands. The archipelago is one of the most isolated land masses in the world and lies 2,400 miles from the west coast of the U.S. Mainland. Honolulu, the state capital, is located on the island of O'ahu. Hawaii's approximately 1.3 million residents are joined each year by almost 7.5 million visitors, who enjoy the state's pleasant climate, famous beaches, surf, active volcanoes and Polynesian cultural heritage.
After a stagnant 1990s, Hawaii's economic performance has outpaced much of the nation in recent years. The rate of economic growth has moderated recently, but economic expansion continues and the state's unemployment rate has been among the lowest nationally. Tourism, the state's leading industry, has recovered strongly following the disruptions of 9/11 despite weakness in the important Japanese market. Hawaii's housing market has boomed over the past half-decade, and the state has seen strong growth in jobs in the construction and transportation and utilities industries. Recently, real income growth has been negatively affected by housing-related inflation.
The state has experienced a strong construction industry expansion, driven primarily by residential investment but with an important commercial component as well. The state's buoyant housing market has begun to cool somewhat. Median home prices have flattened and resale volumes have fallen after rising significantly in the 2001-2006 period.
Hawaii's economy is centered on the tourism industry, and the accommodation and food services and retail trade sectors represent a significant fraction of total jobs. About a fifth of the Hawaii's jobs are in the government sector, both state and federal civilian as well as a large military component. Non-tourism service sectors such as health care, business, administrative and professional fields have seen robust growth in recent years, contributing to gradual diversification of the state economy.
Labor markets throughout the state have been extremely tight. In Kauai and Maui Counties the seasonally adjusted rate of unemployment fell to a just over 2%, with a slightly higher 2.7% on the Big Island. Oahu experienced an unemployment rate of 1.8% in December 2006. With such tight labor markets, businesses in Hawaii have experienced difficulties finding qualified workers in recent years.
The majority of tourists to Hawaii hail from the U.S. mainland. Visitors from the Western U.S. comprise about 43% of total arrivals, and visitors from the Eastern U.S. comprise about 26% of all arrivals. The number of Japanese visitors peaked in the mid-1990s and has declined considerably since then. Recent growth has pressed up against capacity, and the industry is currently experiencing its largest visitor-industry construction boom since the 1980s.
The following table summarizes a few key indicators for the state of Hawai'i's economy. Please click on Tables above to see historical data for an extensive set of economic indicators, or you can chart individual indicators from our interactive graphing environment on the Graphs page.
	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Non-Farm Jobs (Thou)	556.8	567.6	583.4	601.6	617.1	623.6
% Change	0.3	1.9	2.8	3.1	2.6	1.1
Population (Thou.)	1,228.8	1,240.3	1,254.2	1,267.6	1,278.6	1,283.4
% Change	0.8	0.9	1.1	1.1	0.9	0.4
Unemployment Rate (%)	4.0	3.9	3.2	2.7	2.5	2.6
Inflation Rate, Honolulu MSA (%)	1.0	2.3	3.3	3.8	5.8	4.9
Real Personal Income (1982-84$Mil.)	20,177.3	20,512.4	21,528.5	22,387.4	22,612.2	22,904.9
% Change	2.5	1.7	5.0	4.0	1.0	1.3
Visitors (Thou.)	6,389.1	6,380.4	6,912.1	7,416.6	7,461.3	7,368.0
% Change	1.4	-0.1	8.3	7.3	0.6	-1.2
Source: UHERO and other sources. Table copyright UHERO, 2008