Unemployment in Hawai'i rose to 3.5 percent in May, up from 3.3 percent in April and the highest since March 2004.

According to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the seasonally adjusted rate was expected due to the recent layoffs in airlines including Aloha Airlines, which shut down unexpectedly earlier this spring.

Since April 2002, Hawai'i's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has been lower than the national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate by a spread ranging from 1.6 to 2.5 percentage points, the state said.