The Department of Labor and Workforce Development released its monthly unemployment numbers on Friday and Alaska’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remains unchanged from April's number at 5.9%. This is well below the national average of 7.6% during May.
Summer economic activity began to pick up during May due to seasonal increases in the tourism industry. Unemployment rates fell in 21 of 29 boroughs and census areas. The biggest declines were in Skagway and the Denali Borough, where tourism is strong during the summer months. The rates fell by 11.7 and 9.7 percentage points respectively. Skagway’s rate was 2.7%, which is the lowest in the state.
The largest rate increases were seen in the Aleutians East Borough and the Aleutians West Census Area. May is sandwiched between winter and late-summer western fisheries, and typically a slow month for the Aleutian chain.
The unemployment rate in the Anchorage/Mat-Su Region was 5.1%, which was .2% lower than April and .9% lower than May 2012.
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