The Anchorage Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) hosted its annual Economic Forecast Luncheon on Wednesday. The event is a chance to review the economic situation of the past year and look to the current year and what to expect for the future.
As was the case last year, the forecast was optimistic for the coming year, even after seeing the numbers that employment in 2019 was our fifth year of the recession. Final numbers are yet to be calculated, but it looks like Anchorage lost approximately 0.2 percent of jobs in 2019. Unemployment was an average of 5.1 percent, which is not bad, but still higher than the national average. The biggest issue that employers noted was being able to find suitable candidates for open positions. This is across the board and not limited to one sector or experience level. One surprise was the fact that healthcare jobs were down for the first time in 15 years. Speculation is that this is due to the fact that Medicaid is facing uncertainty in Alaska and nationwide.
There are a lot of factors as we look forward to 2020. The full forecast can be found online at AEDC's website.
Consumer and business confidence levels were also highlighted at the luncheon. The numbers have changed since January 2019 but overall confidence is still over 50 in both cases. While both consumers and business owners are confident in their finances, there is concern for the future. Report respondents believe that they are doing well, but do not have confidence in the future for Alaska and Anchorage. Businesses are still investing in Alaska, but are concerned about the State’s economy and fiscal future.
The reports give an interesting look at what consumers and business owners are thinking about for 2020. Once again, AEDC predicts that we will come out of the recession that has caused job losses for the past five year. Anchorage is close to having a positive year for jobs, but it will take work to keep the jobs increasing across sectors.
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