Hawaii's unemployment rate was 7.4 percent in June, with 47,700 people going without work, the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.

The rate was unchanged from May, when joblessness was at a 31-year high.
June's unemployment reflects the state's continuing woes as economies worldwide suffer through a downturn. Hawaii's rate has spiked during the past year as job losses mounted, with the state's rate almost double the 3.9 percent in June 2008.
Still, Hawaii was below the national average of 9.5 percent in June. Michigan had the nation's highest unemployment rate — 15.2 percent.
Unemployment topped 10 percent in 15 states and the District of Columbia last month, according to federal data.
The Federal Reserve this week projected that the national unemployment rate, currently at a 26-year high, will pass 10 percent by the end of the year.
Most Fed policymakers said it could take “five or six years” for the economy and the labor market to get back on a path of long-term health. To get there, consumers must return to a regular spending groove and housing prices need to start rising again.
Home to the nation’s struggling auto makers, Michigan has been clobbered by lost factory jobs.
Still, the U.S. Labor Department said it’s the first time in 25 years that any state has suffered an unemployment rate of at least 15 percent. In 1984, it was West Virginia.
The state unemployment report underscores the damage that the longest recession since World War II has inflicted on companies, workers and communities.
The other 14 states where unemployment topped 10 percent last month were: Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee.