Hawaii unemployment rate climbs to 4.5 percent

HONOLULU (AP) - Hawaii’s unemployment rate rose to a seasonally adjusted 4.5 percent last month.

The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said Monday the jobless rate edged 0.1 percentage point higher from 4.4 percent in November.

The department says the trade, transportation and utilities sector lost jobs during December as did educational and health services.

The construction and hospitality industries both added jobs.

Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 6.7 percent last month, down from 7.0 percent in November.