Hawaii’s unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.5 percent in November from October, the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations reported this afternoon.

Hawaii’s jobless rate has been creeping up since bottoming out at 6 percent in May. The last time Hawaii’s unemployment rate was this high was in October 2010.

The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent in November from 9 percent in October.
The unemployment rate is derived largely from a telephone survey of households. A separate survey of businesses showed that Hawaii’s economy added 500 jobs in November on a net basis. The biggest increase was in professional and business services, which added 700 jobs. The biggest decline was in the construction sector, which lost 900 jobs.

Through the first 11 months of the year Hawaii’s economy added 4,600 jobs on a net basis.