economy

With health mandates and viral anxieties in mind, Hawaii businesses are rethinking their physical environments.

As of August 1st, travelers coming to Hawaii will be exempt from the state’s mandatory 14-day quarantine if they first get tested for COVID-19 and are negative for the virus. 

Women in Hawaii are more likely to have lost their jobs as a result of the COVID-19 recession than male residents, despite equal representation in the workforce.

Sales of farm products currently represent just 0.6% of Hawaii gross domestic product. Experts say there are opportunities for it to grow, but substantial challenges as well.

Despite decades of effort, state and local government in Hawaii have had little success in fostering diversification of the islands' tourism-centric economy. The COVID-19 pandemic recession has once again generated calls for standing up new industries and expanding existing ones that do not include tourism.

This series explores what some of those industries of the future might be and what local leaders can do to bringa about their growth.

Hawaii’s main industry, tourism and hospitality, has been one of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Policymakers have been calling for economic diversification for decades, but single-single industry dominance has been the norm for centuries.

Economists say the state’s economic situation will remain dire without tourism, but residents are fed up with overcrowding by visitors. Experts say now is the time to reorient Hawaii’s visitor industry to a more sustainable path.

As Hawaii continues to reopen the local economy, some leaders are calling for a plan to restart the state’s $18 billion tourism economy. One lawmaker wants COVID-19 testing to be at the center of such a plan.

Hawaii Island’s 12 observatories have been cleared to resume operations by state officials. With travel largely on hold, many observations will now be made from home.

With about 1 in 3 Hawaii workers now unemployed, many have also lost their health insurance. Some options for getting replacement coverage come with a deadline.

Hawaii National Guard Major General Kenneth Hara said he is concerned about the possibility of civil unrest if a plan is not finalized to move toward easing Hawaii’s ongoing lockdown.

More than 20,000 loans in the Paycheck Protection Program have been approved for Hawaii and local banks were on the frontlines of making them happen.

Around 43% of Hawaii residents rent the home in which they live, one of the highest rates in country. With many of those renters now out-of-work, concern is growing about their ability to pay for housing.

Five governors have now joined a coalition of Western U.S. states developing common standards for reopening their economies. Hawaii’s executive remains reluctant.

Updated: 4/24/2020, 8:18 a.m.

President Trump today signed off on another $320 billion in loans approved by lawmakers to help businesses cover payroll and other expenses. Hawaii firms secured $2.46 billion from the first round of funding, but not without difficulty.

With hotels, restaurants, and farmers largely shuttered, demand for fresh, local produce has plummetted. The loss of revenue puts future harvests at risk.

Eligible residents in Hawaii, and around the country, are starting to receive cash stimulus payments from the federal government. But the one-time $1,200 checks won’t go far in Hawaii.

At this point, Governor David Ige’s stay-at-home orders are scheduled to expire at the end of the month. As more attention turns to an eventual economic comeback, both the public and private sectors are gearing up for what may come next.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has been global, but its impacts have varied from country to country. One that has received less attention than some others is Australia. But this week there have been several developments showing its economy looks vulnerable.

Air travel is down by as much as 96 percent and airlines have responded by drastically cutting the number of flights they operate. That is impacting the price of global shipping.

Experts in academia and healthcare have unveiled separate plans for safely reopening Hawaii’s economy. Both frameworks rely heavily on testing, but the state health director says that isn’t where the focus should be.

It’s unclear when conditions will allow the resumption of normal economic activity. Two Hawaii experts have outlined a plan for how that might be achieved, even before a vaccine for COVID-19 is developed.

Restaurants employ 13% of Hawaii workers. Many of those businesses face an existential threat from the coronavirus pandemic, but some are already finding success in the new reality.

With economists predicting short-term unemployment rates as high as 25 percent, the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic will dwarf the Great Recession.

Updated: 3/31/20, 10:42 a.m.

It’s been less than a week since a statewide stay-at-home order largely shut down Hawaii’s economy in an effort to contain the coronavirus. The latest economic projections indicate restarting activity will take much longer.