June Unemployment Rate 6.0%

July 16, 1999
No. 00-03

Alaska's statewide unemployment rate dropped four-tenths of a percentage point in June to 6.0%. The number of unemployed Alaskans fell below 19,600, 700 fewer than in May.  John Boucher, a labor economist with the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, reported the drop in unemployment. The statewide jobless rate remained slightly above last year's level but was the second-lowest rate posted for June in the last 20 years. In June 1998, the statewide unemployment rate was 5.8% and nearly 18,900 Alaskans were unemployed.  The comparable national unemployment rate in June was 4.5% (civilian not seasonally adjusted).

Many areas of Alaska saw relatively small changes in unemployment in June. Those that experienced sharper drops in unemployment tended to be areas dependent on fishing and/or tourism for summer job generation. Many of Alaska's coastal areas either posted low rates or showed marked improvement. Kodiak, for example, saw its unemployment rate drop from 13.3% to 4.9% due to fishing activity. The Denali Borough, where unemployment dropped from 6.3% to 2.9% over the month, is a good example of an area rate positively influenced by the visitor industry. The lowest unemployment rate in the state was in the Aleutians East Borough at 2.4%. The highest rate was in the Wade Hampton Census Area, which had an unemployment rate of 17.2%.

Accompanying the drop in Alaska's jobless rate, 8,200 wage and salary jobs were added to the state's economy in June. "The biggest contributor to the June job increase was Alaska's visitor industry," Boucher said. "Hotels and lodges, retailers, passenger transportation firms and amusement and recreation services all added employees in June." Most of the rest of the job gains were accounted for by increased construction activity or seafood processors gearing up for the peak salmon-processing season. Local government employment dropped 3,200 jobs from May to June as seasonal employees of local school districts were let go for the summer vacation. June statistics marked the transfer of the Anchorage Telephone Utility from the public to private sector. More than 700 jobs moved from local government employment to transportation, communications and utilities employment as the result of the change in ownership.
 
 

Benchmark: March 1998

P/ denotes preliminary estimates

R/ denotes revised estimates

Comparisons between different time periods are not as meaningful as other time series produced by Research & Analysis.

The official definition of unemployment currently in place excludes anyone who has not made an active attempt to find work in the four-week period up to and including the week that includes the 12th of the reference month. Due to the scarcity of employment opportunities in rural Alaskan locations, many individuals do not meet the official definition of unemployed because they have not conducted an active job search. These individuals are considered not in the labor force.

Source: Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Research and Analysis Section.

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