The local unemployment rate continues to drop, reaching its lowest level since before the pandemic. The Guam Department of Labor released its latest figures that show unemployment is at 5.1% for the quarter ending in March 2022. That compares to the 7.2% unemployment rate from the previous quarter in December.

The agency says total payroll employment rose by 2,20 workers year-over-year. 62,280 people were on payroll in March 2022, compared to 60,070 a year before. Officials credit the increase in employment to ongoing construction activity of some $1.2 billion in military and civilian projects, and the tourism surge in April primarily from Korea. But also a factor in the lower unemployment is many in the workforce have left island.

"The unemployment rate is going down for two reasons," noted Gary Hiles, DOL's chief economist. "One, more people are employed so that causes a reduction in unemployment, but also the unemployment is a measure of how many people are looking that can't find jobs. So if they left the island to look for work elsewhere like the mainland, then they would not be unemployed on Guam and that would reduce our unemployment."

At 5.1%, the unemployment rate has reached another post-pandemic low, but its still higher than the national average of 3.5%. "A major portion of our economy is international tourism. So tourism as a component of the U.S. economy is much smaller, but its also less international," said Hiles.

DOL director Dave Dell'Isola added, "I think 5.1% is a very good position to be in and our Japan market hasn't really opened yet. So that gives room for more improvement."

And they say the construction and tourism industries are leading indicators of further growth ahead. First, military construction typically involves multi-year projects that will keep the workers working. Second, they say the number of hours worked per hotel employee has nearly doubled, meaning it will be critical for hotels to hire new people.

"This is a natural progression, there'll be a leveling-off, the hotel industry overall the pay will go up on average in order to attract more employees to coming in," Dell'Isola speculated.