Alaska Employment: Unemployment Rate Down in July, Total Jobs Also Down
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Alaska’s unemployment rate fell slightly in July, despite a continued decline in the year-over-year number of jobs. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) puts the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for June at 4.3 percent, a slight dip from June’s 4.4 and a continued deviation from the 4.6 to 4.7 percent trend in almost every month for more than a year.
Diverging Figures
DOLWD notes that the national unemployment rate also fell slightly in July to 4.1 percent.
The unadjusted unemployment rate in the Anchorage/Mat-Su Region dropped to 3.3 percent in July from June’s 3.8 percent. All regions of the state saw rates drop in July compared to a year earlier and the month before.
Total nonfarm employment rose to 357,900 in July from a revised 353,700 in June. However, the figure was 2,100 lower than in July of 2025, resulting in a contraction of 0.6 percent, continuing negative growth in June after a flat year-over-year employment total in May.
DOLWD economist Karinne Wiebold says it’s not unusual for job growth and unemployment to diverge in any given month, but it would be unusual if the difference persisted for a long time.
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August 2026
As in June, the private sector added jobs but greater losses in the government sector overwhelmed those gains. Federal, state, and local employment fell to 71,300 in July, down from 75,500 in June and 73,600 a year earlier, for 3.1 percent shrinkage. Local employment, which includes public schools, was flat compared to July 2025, but the state government shed 1,000 jobs, or 4.3 percent, down to 22,300, and the federal government has 1,300 fewer jobs than a year ago, or 8.5 percent smaller, at 14,000 (not including uniformed military).
DOLWD produced a separate report that found Alaska lost 4.5 percent of its federal workforce in 2025, the third-largest drop of any state. Only Maryland and New Mexico saw larger percentage losses. Alaska ended 2025 with 700 fewer federal jobs, putting federal employment at its lowest level since the ‘90s. US Department of Defense civilian positions, including the Army Corps of Engineers, saw the biggest losses. Wiebold, who authored the report, says DOLWD is still studying where those former federal workers have gone.
Private sector jobs totals were positive in July, but not by much. The 0.1 percent growth was dragged down by 1,000 fewer jobs in the manufacturing sector, usually dominated by seafood processing. Construction also counted fewer jobs; the 20,700 in July equaled June but was 3.3 percent smaller than a year ago, by 700 workers. The information sector likewise held steady from June to July at 4,200 but contracted by 2.3 percent year-over-year, and the professional and business services sector shrank by 1.6 percent, losing 500 jobs since a year ago. Even the retail sector lost 300 jobs, a 0.8 percent drop.
Financial activities and wholesale trade sectors remained flat, but all other industry sectors saw year-over-year growth. The oil and gas sector grew by 9.1 percent, adding 800 jobs in July compared to a year earlier, even though employment fell slightly month to month.
DOLWD released a separate workforce analysis for the Alaska LNG Project. The updated report found that construction demand could peak at approximately 6,600 workers for a North Slope natural gas pipeline alone. Other major projects—such as Donlin Gold, Graphite One, and the Port of Nome expansion—would demand another 2,000 workers concurrently. Therefore, current workforce demand is expected to exceed existing workforce and training output.
Northern Industrial Training prepared the analysis for the Alaska Workforce Investment Board, based on survey responses from apprenticeship programs, unions, postsecondary schools, career and technical education programs, and tribal institutions.
“This report shows Alaska starts from a position of strength,” says DOLWD Commissioner Cathy Muñoz of the Alaska LNG workforce update. “We have a robust network of apprenticeship programs, career and technical education, university system, and workforce partners already preparing Alaskans for high-demand careers. Our focus now is investing in and aligning those resources with future industry needs so as many Alaskans as possible are ready to benefit from these opportunities.”
