Hawaii’s unemployment rate edged down to 6.3 percent in September, reflecting a continued gradual improvement in the state’s labor market.

The September rate fell from 6.4 percent in August and equaled the 6.3 percent reached in June, the State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations reported yesterday.

Hawaii’s jobless rate was the sixth lowest in the country and was substantially below the national rate, which was unchanged at 9.6 percent in September. The statewide and national numbers are adjusted for seasonal variations.

The biggest job gains in Hawaii were in the construction industry, which added 1,400 positions in September compared with August. Despite the one-month improvement, however, overall employment in the construction sector remains weak by historical standards.

"We’ve seen a slight improvement, but unfortunately the economy is still sluggish," said Hawaii Carpenter’s Union Financial Secretary Ron Taketa. "Most new jobs are in the government area. The private market is still weak."

Unemployment among carpenters, the largest single group of construction workers, has been running about 55 percent for the past year, Taketa said.

The 29,900 construction jobs in September were on par with the 29,800 monthly average through the first nine months of the year, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the peak of the last construction boom in 2007, the industry produced an average of 39,100 jobs a month.

The carpenters’ and other construction trades are hopeful the planned rail project will help sustain the industry through future downturns, Taketa said.

Josh Copeland, owner of Soul Construction on Kauai, said business has slowed significantly since the company was voted one of the state’s fastest-growing companies a few years ago.

"Things are pretty stagnant here and throughout the state," Copeland said.

Four months ago, Copeland had about 18 workers on his payroll but had to lay off 10 of them all on one day because of the lack of work. "The good thing was that they were hired for other jobs within the week," he said.

Much of Soul Construction’s work lately has been in the high-end residential market, where people who have bought lots in recent years are now taking advantage of low labor costs to have their homes built, he said.

"Two or three years ago, people were paying $500 per square foot for these kinds of homes, and now it’s in the low- to mid-$300 range," Copeland said.

The size of Hawaii’s work force fell slightly to 634,469 from 634,911 in August. The number of employed rose by 207, while the number of unemployed fell by 658. There were 2,700 more residents employed in September compared with a year earlier.

"We are encouraged to see the unemployment rate for Hawaii continue to decline, while the number of employed individuals has increased," Pearl Imada Iboshi, DLIR director, said in a news release.

By county, the jobless rate was 5.3 percent for Honolulu, 7.9 percent for Maui, 8.6 percent for Kauai and 9.5 percent for the Big Island. County data are not adjusted for seasonal variations.