The State of Alaska’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development published the April unemployment rate this morning. For the first time in nearly five and a half years, the US national average is below the Alaska rate. The seasonally adjusted rate in Alaska was 6.4 percent during April. The not-seasonally adjusted rate was at 6.5 percent, which is eight-tenths of a percentage lower than March. It is very common to see large drops in April.
The fact that Alaska now has a higher unemployment rate than the national average is nothing out of the ordinary. Alaska’s rate was higher than the national average from 1983 until 2008. The national average had much more significant changes due to the recent recession than was seen in Alaska. The difference in the two rates is now in a pre-recession pattern and is expected to stay that way for the foreseeable future.
The summer tourist season is beginning to ramp up, which is in turn bringing declines in the rates throughout Alaska, especially in Southeast. Skagway had a rate of 21.6 percent in March and dropped to 13.1 percent in April. This was the most significant change throughout the state.
Detailed employment estimates can be found at http://live.laborstats.alaska.gov/ces/
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