The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s monthly unemployment numbers show that unemployment declined slightly in June and July. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in June was 7.1 percent, down a tenth of a percent from May and was 6.9 in July. The slow decline is still well over the national average, which was 3.9 percent in July which is 0.1 percent higher than the low of 3.8 percent from May 2018..
There was a decline of 1,700 jobs in June, compared to June 2017. Retail and state government had the largest losses with -1,000 and -600 respectively. Construction did see a bump with 400 jobs gained in June. Healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, warehousing, utilities, and hospitality all had gains with a total of 1,600 new jobs as compared to June 2017.
July only had a loss of 900 jobs as compared to 2017, which was a 0.3 percent decrease. Retail still had the largest decrease in jobs, losing 900 jobs, while oil and gas lost 500 and professional and business services lost 300 over July 2017. Construction continued to grow, but only by 300 jobs. The same areas that saw growth in June continue to grow in July by adding an additional 1,400 jobs.
The public sector losses in state and local government, 500 total, were offset slightly by a gain of 200 federal jobs last month, over last July.
The highest unemployment rates are in areas that do not have activity from commercial fishing and tourism. The not-seasonally adjusted rates followed the usual summer trend of a decrease in areas with fishing and tourism. This is standard throughout the state.
For full employment information, please visit the Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development.
