Alaskanomics

September jobs down 11.0 percent from last September

State of Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development 
No. 20-36

JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska’s September job count was down 11.0 percent from last September, a loss of 37,600 jobs. The pandemic kept job counts far below year-ago levels in all industries except federal government, which was up 900 jobs from September 2019 due to temporary hiring for the 2020 Census.

Leisure and hospitality was down the most, with 13,600 fewer jobs than last September (-33.5 percent). The transportation, warehousing and utilities sector had 6,000 fewer jobs, mainly in scheduled air transportation and scenic and sightseeing transportation.

We update our job estimates as additional data become available, and recent revisions show steeper losses during the first several months of the pandemic than initially reported, particularly in transportation, warehousing and utilities; oil and gas; professional and business services and retail. Construction and manufacturing appeared to be slightly better off than initial estimates showed.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined slightly to 7.2 percent in September, and the comparable U.S. rate was 7.9 percent. Jobs and unemployment insurance claims will be better barometers of the state’s economic health in the coming months than the unemployment rate, which is a complicated measure that relies on statistical modeling and a household survey that has been difficult to conduct during the pandemic. Job losses remain historically large, and claims were more than six times higher than in September 2019. 

The same technical issues with the unemployment rate rolled down to Alaska’s not-seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for boroughs and census areas. Consequently, the September rates suggest more improvement for local economies than their claims and job numbers support.

 View data tables and charts (PDF)

August jobs down 10.5 percent from last August

State of Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development 

September 18, 2020
No. 20-33

JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska’s August job count was down 10.5 percent from last August, a loss of 37,000 jobs. Pandemic disruptions continued to spur large over-the-year losses in all industries except federal government, which was up 1,400 jobs due to temporary hiring for the 2020 Census.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined from 11.6 percent in July to 7.4 percent in August, but that decline was more the result of COVID-related disruptions to the statistical methods the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses to calculate rates than an improvement that large in Alaska’s economy.

Unemployment insurance claims dropped by about 6,000 from July to August, but remained nearly seven times higher than last August. For now and the coming months, job numbers and unemployment insurance claims will be more reliable measures of the state’s economic health than the unemployment rate, which is a complicated measure that relies on a household survey that has been harder to conduct since the virus hit.

The same technical issues rolled down to Alaska’s not-seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for boroughs and census areas. Consequently, the August rates suggest a rosier picture of local economies than the unemployment insurance claims and regional job numbers support.

 View data tables and charts (PDF)

Alaska Minimum Wage will increase in 2021

Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development

Sept. 16, 2020
No. 20-32

JUNEAU, Alaska — The Alaska minimum wage will increase from $10.19 to $10.33 effective Jan. 1, 2021. Voters passed a ballot initiative in 2014 to adjust the minimum wage annually for inflation.

Alaska Statute 23.10.065(a) requires the Alaska minimum wage to be adjusted using the Consumer Price Index for urban consumers in the Anchorage metropolitan area (Anchorage CPI-U) for the preceding calendar year. The Anchorage CPI-U increased 1.4 percent in 2019. As a result, the minimum wage will rise from $10.19 to $10.33 effective Jan. 1, 2021. By law, Alaska’s minimum wage must remain at least $1 per hour over the federal minimum wage.

The Alaska minimum wage applies to all hours worked in a pay period, regardless of how the employee is paid — whether by time, piece, commission or otherwise. All actual hours worked in a pay period multiplied by the Alaska minimum wage is the very least an employee can be compensated by an employer unless the employer can clearly show that a specific exemption exists.

Tips do not count toward the minimum wage. Further, under Alaska law, public school bus driver wages must be no less than twice the current Alaska minimum wage. Also, certain exempt employees must be paid on a salary basis of not less than twice the current Alaska minimum wage based on a 40-hour work week in order to maintain their exempt status.

More information about Alaska’s wage laws can be found at: http://labor.alaska.gov/lss/whhome.htm