Alaska's "Continuous Workers" Weather Recession Well

In April's issue of Alaska Economic Trends, the Alaska Department of Labor released the 3rd quarter 2010 "continuous employment" figures, the latest available. Continuous employment is defined as workers who have worked for the same employer for the four quarters prior to the reporting period.

Overall, the continuous workforce grew .6%, or 1,300 workers, from the third quarter of 2009 to the third quarter of 2010.

• The largest number of continuous workers are in local government, with just over 31,000 employees, virtually unchanged from the prior year.
• Health Care and Social Assistance is the second largest group, with 29,000 continuous workers, an increase of 6% over the prior year.
• State government workers are the third largest group, at 21,000 continous workers, growing 1% over the prior year.

Several industries changed by a significant percentage, although the absolute numbers were small:

• Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting increased 13%, to 462 continuous workers
• Management of Companies and Enterprises declined 10%, to 311 workers
• Educational Services declined 8%, to 1,152 workers

Department of Labor economists expect the continuous employment number to grow if the recent increases in new hires stay in their positions.

Comments

[Jay]

These numbers prove, in my opinion, that government is a big driver for employment growth and we should understand that governement is funded by oil taxes and royalties. It's a scary thought as oil and gas investment is on the decline.