Hawaii's tourism sector's long road to normal
01 June 2021
Hawaii's all-important tourism sector is bouncing back, but the state's climb out of its pandemic-sized hole is moving more slowly.
Why it matters: Hawaii's tourist-dependent labor market suffered one of the worst blows in the country last year.
- Its jobless rate peaked near the highest level of all states. It's since recovered some, but remains the highest in the nation.
Where it stands: Hawaii has the fewest job postings (0.7) per unemployed worker in the country, according to ZipRecruiter data cited by the Wall Street Journal. (For comparison, there are more than five open gigs per jobless person in Vermont.)
Background: Friday's employment report will be make or break for the state of the labor market recovery that stalled in April.
- Economists estimate jobs made a notable lurch (700,000) toward pre-pandemic job levels in May. States like Hawaii have a much longer way to go to return to normal.
Hawaii has recouped among the smallest share of payrolls compared with pre-pandemic times. Only New Mexico has fared worse by that measure, according to ratings agency Fitch.
One bright spot: Total domestic air seats scheduled for Hawaii this month are up 14% more than June 2019, the state's department for business, economic development and tourism (DBEDT), said last week.
- Yes, but: The job recovery is trailing behind the tourism rebound, according to the University of Hawaii.
- "The available labor force has been reduced by outmigration, ongoing virus concerns, and the need to supervise children until schools reopen," researchers wrote last month — noting payrolls won't fully recover for several more years.
What they're saying: "We expect the full recovery of our tourism industry will be beyond 2024," DBEDT director Mike McCartney said in a release last week.
- Blame the slow return of international visitors — who tend to spend more daily on average than U.S. ones, McCartney said.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.