State Gains Summer Jobs; Still Below 2019 Figures
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- Created on Monday, 18 September 2023 23:29
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By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
Buoyed by a record tourist season, Alaska employers hired thousands more workers this year than they did during last year’s summer peak, but state employment remains stubbornly below what it was in 2019, figures from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development show.
“We’re not there yet, and the reasons are a little murky,” said Dan Robinson, an economist with the department, which publishes employment figures monthly.
Alaska businesses and governments employed 344,100 people in August, a gain of 4,800 or 1.4% from the same month last year, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development said Friday.
The number of workers in Alaska peaks each year in July amid the state’s tourist season, driven by the cruise industry. This year’s season is expected to bring a record-high number of cruise ship tourists to the state.
Every month this year, employers have reported more workers than they did in the corresponding month last year, state figures show, but the figures are still below what they were before the COVID-19 pandemic emergency. In August 2019, for example, the state employed 352,200 people in non-farm work.
Most states, and the nation overall, have fully recovered from pandemic-caused dips in employment.
“We’re something like 2% below, and that’s unusual among states, and it’s different from the nation. The nation has long since recovered,” Robinson said.
Alaska’s economy is typically countercyclical to the Lower 48 — when other states do poorly, Alaska does well, and vice versa. That’s in part because of the state’s reliance on resource development.
“Oil would be part of it,” Robinson said.
In August 2019, the state had 10,100 people directly employed in oil and gas work. In August this year, there were 7,400 oil and gas workers.
Robinson said fiscal uncertainty with the state budget is likely another contributing factor, as are migration trends. For the past decade, the number of people moving out of Alaska has exceeded the number of people moving in.
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https://alaskabeacon.com/james-brooks
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AK COVID-19
At a Glance
(updated 9-12-2023)
By Sentinel Staff
The state Department of Health and Social Services has posted the following update on the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Alaska as of 8:57 a.m. Tuesday, September 12.
New cases as of Tuesday: 278
Total cases (cumulative) statewide – 301,513
Total (cumulative) deaths – 1,485
Case Rate per 100,000 – 38.14
To visit the Alaska DHSS Corona Response dashboard website click here.
COVID in Sitka
The Sitka community level is now "Low.'' Case statistics are as of Tuesday.
Case Rate/100,000 – 152.50
Cases in last 7 days – 13
Cumulative Sitka cases – 3,575
Deceased (cumulative) – 10
The local case data are from Alaska DHSS.
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20 YEARS AGO
September 2003
After the season-opening Ketchikan High School swim meet last week, Sitka High swimmer Matt Way is ranked first in the state in the100-meter breaststroke, while Carrington Gorman is ranked second in the 50-meter freestyle.
50 YEARS AGO
September 1973
From Around Town: Sitka Historical Society met Sunday at the Centennial Building with the people who had hosted the Historical Room during tour ship visits here. The ladies of the society served a nice Russian Tea from their samovar, and passed around Russian tea cakes.
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