IS THE WALKER RECESSION OVER?
Alaska’s employment rose by 1,110 jobs from November 2018 to 2019, and the unemployment rate fell to 6.1 percent, the lowest in history since unemployment was first measured in the 1970s.
In April of 2018, employment was down by 1,200 over the previous April. By November of 2018, overall employment was down 1,300 jobs. During the recession, the state lost an estimated 12,000 jobs since late 2015, shortly after Gov. Bill Walker came into office and started destabilizing the oil and gas sector.
Oil and gas sector has gained back the most jobs (400) this year, the first year of the Dunleavy Administration. Tourism was up by 300 jobs and health care jobs also gained 300. Retail lost 200 jobs and information technology jobs are down by 100.
According to the Department of Labor, the State has shed 600 state government jobs, primarily due to budget cuts at the University of Alaska. In local governments, the job count stayed flat, and the federal workforce increased by 100, in part because the U.S. Census Bureau has been hiring short-term workers for the 2020 Census. These are temporary jobs that will be in the “loss” category after the Census.
The lowest unemployment rate in the state was in government-rich Juneau, 4.4 percent, just above the national unemployment rate of 3.7 percent.
Sitka has a 4.6 percent unemployment rate and Anchorage has 4.8 percent unemployed.
Alaskans looking for work in the summer might try Skagway and Denali Boroughs, where tourism jobs are plentiful and in June and July the unemployment rates drop below the national average. By November these areas have some of the highest unemployment, 16.9 percent and 18.2 parent respectively.
Eight other areas also exceed 10 percent: Kusilvak Census Area, Bristol Bay Borough, Bethel Census Area, Northwest Arctic Borough, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Haines Borough and the Valdez-Cordova Census Area.
The challenge for Alaska job creators is whether former Gov. Bill Walker’s law partner Robin Brena will keep the oil and gas investments on the sideline, while the Brena oil tax hike is pending as a ballot initiative. Walker, a foe of the SB 21 legislation that stabilized taxes, joined forces with Brena after he left office, although he is not openly involved with the oil tax increase initiative called “Our Fair Share.”
