Statewide employment grew by an estimated 0.5 percent in July, or 1,800 jobs, from July 2018, according to data compiled by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate meanwhile fell to 6.3 percent, while the comparable national rate stayed at 3.7 percent.
Construction gained 600 jobs over the year, followed by oil and gas, with 500 positions.
While job growth was widespread in Alaska’s private sector, a few industries continued to lose jobs, among them financial services and the information sectors, which were down 400 and 300 jobs respectively.
Alaska had 400 more federal jobs and 300 more state government posts than last July. Much of that growth was in the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, the federal Bureau of Land Management and other agencies responding to a busy fire season.
Local government employment was flat.
As the state emerges from its longest, albeit not deepest, recession, the labor department also took a preliminary look at which sectors of the economy were hardest hit from October 2015 through October 2018.
They included the oil and gas industry, plus professional and business services, including geology and engineering firms closely tied to oil and gas and construction. Overall, the private sector lost 9,700 jobs.
Jobs in state government fell by 2,200, while federal employment, unaffected by the state’s recession, remained level. Local government added 600 jobs, but employment began to fall in late 2017 and remained slightly below its prior-year levels through most of 2018.
Healthcare jobs grew, fueled by increased health insurance coverage and an aging population. Some 3,700 jobs were added over the three-year period, although growth slowed considerably in 2018. The leisure and hospitality industry, boosted by strong tourism, added 600 jobs from 2015 through 2018.
