Justin Tyndall

Unemployment and Underemployment in Hawaii: A Troubling Picture

July 14, 2020

By James Mak, Justin Tyndall and Carl Bonham In 2019 Hawaii recorded one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country at 2.8%. Only five states—Colorado (2.6%), New Hampshire (2.6%), Utah (2.6%), Vermont (2.3%) and North Dakota (2.3%)—had lower unemployment rates.  The U.S. average was 3.7%. Hawaii’s annual average unemployment had been below 3% every […]

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Early UI Data Reveals Differential Impacts of the Economic Shutdown

June 10, 2020

By Justin Tyndall and Philip Garboden Two weeks ago the Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations released its monthly snapshot of individuals receiving unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. The data represents only the 69,729 individuals receiving benefits on April 12th, 2020.  Data is also presented at the county level, allowing for comparisons across our islands. Since the […]

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Mapping Unemployment Claims in Hawai’i

May 22, 2020

By Justin Tyndall The labor market impact of COVID-19 is likely to vary across different areas of Hawai’i. Using new data on a sample of 150,000 initial unemployment claims from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, we created a map that provides a first indication of the severity of the labor market downturn, organized […]

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