Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism

Hawaii Housing Finance & Development Corp. — HHFDC is accepting applications from first-time homebuyers interested in buying a repurchased condominium unit through its Affordable Resale Program.

DBEDT today announced that the monthly labor statistics including labor force, employment, unemployment, and unemployment rate has been revised. Based on the revised data series, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January was 4.4 percent.

Hawaii State Energy Office — Hawaii is among the states with recipients of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2021 Diesel Emissions Reduction Action (DERA) School Bus Rebates.

Hawaii State Energy Office — Hawaii Chief Energy Officer Scott Glenn today issued the following statement: “We strongly support Par Pacific Holdings, Inc.’s decision to suspend purchasing any more Russian crude oil for Hawaii."

DBEDT raised its economic growth forecast for 2022 by one-fifth of a percentage point from 3.0 percent projected in the fourth quarter 2021 to 3.2 percent in the current projection.

According to preliminary visitor statistics released by DBEDT, total spending by visitors who came to the islands in January 2022 was $1.40 billion, compared to $397.9 million spent in January 2021.

Hawaii State Energy Office — The U.S. Departments of Transportation and Energy have announced the new National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program that will provide more than $17 million in Hawaii over the next five years to fund electric vehicle charging stations statewide.

According to preliminary visitor statistics released by DBEDT, total spending by visitors who came to the islands in December 2021 was $1.66 billion.

DBEDT today announced that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for December was 5.7 percent compared to 6.0 percent in November.

Hawaii Housing Finance & Development Corp. — Oahu homeowners affected negatively by the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic may be eligible to receive financial assistance, mortgage counseling and other resources to help them avoid foreclosure.