New data from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development shows that the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to impact the economy, with January employment down 7.4% over a year ago.
Leisure and hospitality had the largest losses, with 7,800 fewer jobs than last January. Oil and gas employment was down by 3,400 jobs. Retail trade and the transportation, warehousing and utilities sector both had 1,800 fewer jobs. Local government jobs were down by 2,000, primarily in public education. Professional and business services posts were down by 1,700 positions.
Meanwhile, the job count in state government was up by 200 jobs over last January, mostly from pandemic-related hires such as contact tracers and additional staff to process unemployment insurance claims.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 6.6% in January from a revised December rate of 6.5%. The comparable national rate dipped from 6.7% to 6.3%.
