Economic Forecast from the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism

The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) released their quarterly forecast which now projects that Hawaii's inflation adjusted gross domestic product will rise by 2.6 percent in 2014, a slight increase from the 2.4 percent forecast in May. DBEDT also noted that inflation for 2014 will be slightly lower at 1.5 percent, a decrease from the 2.1 percent projected earlier.  Inflation rates are expected to remain low for the next few years and rise 2.2 percent in 2015, 2.7 percent in 2016 and 3.2 percent in 2017.  Richard Lim, the director of DBEDT commented, "Hawaii's inflation rate (during the first half of this year) was lower than the U.S. average for the first time since 2003. At the same time, our labor market continues to improve. We are seeing a record-high labor force and workers employed during the first seven months of the year."

Visitor arrivals and spending are expected to hit a new record high for the third year in a row. As for construction, Eugene Tian, the chief economists for DBEDT, explained that there should be more construction activity in the near future.  Tian commented, "Construction will help the economy because, although tourism growth will be a record this year, the pace of that growth is slower."

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 8-21-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Principal Broker, REALTOR®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
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