Guam employment: inside the numbers - KUAM.com-KUAM News: On Air. Online. On Demand.

The number of people without jobs continues to drop. The latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the unemployment rate fell point 8 percent in March, from the previous quarter. And Adelup says it welcomes news of a continued downward trend from the 13 percent jobless rate of four years ago.

The labor department released two reports, one showing unemployment dropping from 7.7 percent in December to 6.9 percent in March.  Another shows the number of jobs increasing by 1,270 (2.7 percent) year on year. Labor chief economist Gary Hiles says the uptick was mainly due to the openings this year of the Dusit Thani hotel and the Guam Regional Medical City.

Looking ahead, Hiles says the military buildup is gaining traction, but he believes won't fully ramp-up just yet, as he says the leading indicators - building permits and contracts - are down from last year. "But if you look at the three year moving average the construction value, the contract is just over a half-billion dollars, and has stayed in that range. We expect to see roughly similar levels of construction in the short term. Next six months or so," he forecast.

But he expects the buildup will start to pick up steam, now that the president has signed the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes some $400 million for Guam. "Longer term, the leading indicators are the Department of Defense appropriations, which are quite a bit higher," said Hiles. "So as those projects get contracted, along with the Japan contracts , we would expect to see a significant increase in construction."

Officials also report an increase in average hourly earnings from $12.95 a year ago, to $13.56 in June.