Hawaii cost of living data for 2011 is very poor. Projections for the next 3 years are equally so. Hawaii’s lack of growth is severely hurting jobs growth. Inflation is crippling the middle class and there is no end in sight. Recovery needs a huge economic turn-around. Unfortunately Hawaii is just no experiencing enough to pull itself out of the recession. The economic decline is felt across the U.S but Hawaii ranks at just about the bottom.

Looking at Hawaii’s growth this year

According to the U.S. Commerce Department Hawaii’s economy had poor growth. Registering at 1.2 percent this is effecting the job market hence Hawaii cost of living. When factoring in inflation Hawaii’s economic growth has is 2.6%. When jobs growth is low and inflation is high. The cost of living in Hawaii increases.

Out of 50 states Hawaii’s growth rate ranked 44th. This is a huge drop in ranking when compared to past years. Hawaii’s economy growth in the prior year was 2.6 less than in 2009. This is not an encouraging stat when considering we were in the middle of the recession at that time.

Various state departments are projecting that Hawaii’s cost of living will increase when factoring in inflation adjusted economic growth. It is projected increase is 2% by 2012 and 2.4% by 2013. This is huge when considering the majority of this statistic is made up of an inflating dollar.

Hawaii’s Growth

So enough of the negatives lets take a look at the positives. There has to been a silver lining in this cloud right? Well not much to shout about here.

On the positive side of the equation Hawaii saw good growth in the tourism, real estate, retail and food sectors.

Conversely the negatives were manufacturing, agriculture, and construction.

The Commerce Department’s finding are based and Gross Domestic Product. This is factoring in the total of all goods and services produced in Hawaii.

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2010 brought in a decrease in home value. The cost of food increased as well as essential services. The Cost of living in Hawaii is as much above the national average as it has been in the past for the most part. Food would be the only exception. The follow is a breakdown of how Honolulu Hawaii ranks. Keep in mind one hundred is the national average.

Cost of living Index

Cost of living in Hawaii for the city of Honolulu is 66% higher than the national average. The main reason is the housing index even though home prices have gone down in 2010. The job market and medium salary wont be discussed in this article but are a contributing factor because wages have decreased this year.

Goods and Services Index

This year the Goods and services index is holding steady at 127. This gap is consistent with the gap last year. There has not been much change this is category this year.

Grocery Index

The cost of food has gone up but Hawaii doesn’t gain much ground when compared to the rest of the nation. The index for food is 159. Hawaii’s food is as always imported. This year saw consumers getting less food for there dollar. The increase was similar through out the nation.

Housing Index

Across the nation home prices are going down. It is safe to assume that Hawaii would not be exempt to this. But when compared to the average in America Hawaii is 244. This as stated earlier is what is driving the cost of living in Hawaii to extraordinary heights.

In 2010 Hawaii keeps its ranking in the cost of living index. Hawaii is well above the 100 percentile in every category. Here are some other statistics worth noting.

• Health Care Index- 122
• Transportation Index- 130
• Utilities Index- 140

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