People in Hawaii appear to be saving more even as higher unemployment and income loss grips the islands during the coronavirus pandemic.

A statewide survey by SMS Research &Marketing Service Inc. in June found that the total percentage of residents who responded that they were “saving a lot” or “saving a little” was 58%.

This is not surprising because it is a trend seen across the country and around the world as consumer habits have become paralyzed by fear of COVID-19.

In America, the personal savings rate — or the percentage of disposal income sent to savings — has shot up to 33%, up from just 8% a few months ago. The current savings rate has never been this high since the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis started monitoring it in the 1950s.

In Hawaii, merchants and restaurateurs have reported that business is unusually slow despite modifications in their operations aimed at making patronizing them safer, while some have closed their doors, unable to overcome the downturn.

“Some people are saving their money,” said Robert Perkinson, professor of American studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. “They aren’t going on trips, and they aren’t spending their money on restaurants.”

But not everyone is squirreling their money away. Some 31% told the SMS survey that they were just managing to get by, while a combined 27% said they were either drawing on savings or running into debt.

As for savings, according to the survey, residents 55 years of age and older were more likely to be putting away some money, while younger residents between 18 and 34 years of age were just managing to make ends meet.

Elsewhere in the survey, significantly more men responded that they were “saving a lot” compared to women (22% to 9%).

Neighbor island residents were more likely to say they were “running into debt” (15% to 10% on Oahu) and receive food from nonprofits (8% compared to 3% on Oahu). This matches with neighbor island residents who said they were more likely to be temporarily laid off (25% compared to 16% on Oahu).

Perkinson, who along with UH colleagues has urged state leaders to move more aggressively against the coronavirus pandemic, said it is important that federal and state governments continue to provide the proper level of relief to allow residents to survive the crisis.

“Even though the crisis affects everyone, it doesn’t affect everyone equally,” he said. State leaders need to do a better job of supporting the part of the economy that isn’t just saving but in need of spending to help power the economy forward, he said.

The latest SMS survey was taken June 11-17, while the previous one with the same questions was taken May 5-10. Another one is planned this month.

The good news in the June survey is that more people were happy and experiencing enjoyment than in May, as expressed in answers to a question that asked how respondents are feeling. “Enjoyment” was the answer that changed the most, shooting up 13 percentage points.

While greater numbers of respondents still indicated they were feeling stressed, worried and sad, those numbers declined slightly in the June survey.

Perkinson said a new collective purpose may have contributed to the brighter outlook.

“In the best possible version of the crisis, it represents an opportunity to come together and make changes and sacrifices that you wouldn’t see in normal times,” he said. “Maybe there was a sense of ‘we’re all in this together,’ of working hard to be safe and to take care of one another, a chance to retool work environments and realize new meaning in our lives.”

On the other hand, Perkinson said he wouldn’t be surprised if the numbers went the other way in July’s survey. When the poll was taken, Hawaii was generally seeing daily single-digit COVID-19 cases and the islands seemed pretty safe, he said. This month, however, daily cases have generally increased to between 20 and 40.

“Hawaii has done a good job (fighting the virus).,” Perkinson said. “But it has also been slow, cautious and bureaucratic.”

It can do better, he said. “The virus is unforgiving.”

A total of 401 people were surveyed by SMS in June, resulting in a 5% margin of error. SMS said the data was balanced to reflect the adult population of the state using 2018 U.S. census data.