According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provisional estimates, in July 2003 the seasonally adjusted civilian labor force in Hawaii numbered 609,100, with approximately 24,600 workers unemployed, yielding an unemployment rate of 4.0%, compared to the national average of 6.2% for the same period. Since the beginning of the BLS data series in 1978, the highest unemployment rate recorded was 7.8% in September 1978. The historical low was 2.3% in July 1989. In 2001, an estimated 5.1% of the labor force was employed in construction; 3.1% in manufacturing; 7.8% in transportation, communications, and public utilities; 21.6% in trade; 5.9% in finance, insurance, and real estate; 27.8% in services; 17.7% in government; and 3.2% in agriculture.
Unionization was slow to develop in Hawaii. After World War II, however, the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU) organized workers in the sugar and pineapple industries and then on the docks. The Teamsters Union is also well established.
The US Department of Labor reported that in 2002, 120,000 of Hawaii's 492,000 employed wage and salary workers were members of unions. This represented 24.4% of those so employed, up from 23.7% in 2001 but down from 26.5% in 1998. The national average is 13.2%. Hawaii is one of only four states with a union membership rate over 20%. In all, 125,000 workers (25.4%) were represented by unions. In addition to union members, this category includes workers who report no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union contract.