January employment up 0.2 percent from last year; unemployment rate at 6.5 percent

March 8, 2019

No. 19-06

JUNEAU, Alaska—January employment was up an estimated 0.2 percent, or 500 jobs, from January 2018. Construction added the largest number of jobs over the year (800), followed by health care (400). State government added 300 jobs; oil and gas added 200; the transportation, warehousing and utilities sector added 200 and local government added 100.

Manufacturing employment fell by 500 while professional and business services lost 400 jobs, retail lost 300, and federal government lost 200. The information sector and financial activities both fell by 100 jobs.

Alaska’s seasonally adjusted January unemployment rate remained at 6.5 percent, and the comparable national rate increased from 3.9 to 4.0 percent.

Not-seasonally adjusted rates rose in all areas of the state with the exception of Aleutians West and East, which also had the state’s lowest rates at 3.4 percent and 4.1 percent, due to winter fishing. Skagway (21.6 percent) and Denali (21.2 percent) had the highest unemployment rates in the state, which is typical for tourism-centered areas in the off-season. Urban areas had lower rates than most of the state, with Anchorage at 5.7 percent, Fairbanks at 6.7 percent, and Juneau at 5.6 percent.

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