Alaska Employment: 339,100 Jobs Drops Unemployment in May to 4.5 Percent

An increase of more than 9,000 jobs compared to a year before—for a third month in a row— kept the state’s unemployment rate from rising. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development puts the seasonally adjusted figure for May at 4.5 percent, down from 4.6 the month before.

2.8 Percent Job Growth

The statewide rate in May compares to the national rate of 4 percent, which was a slight increase from April. Rates have more than recovered from levels prior to the COVID-19 pandemic; unemployment rates in Alaska were typically higher than 6 percent prior to the oil price crash of 2014.

The unadjusted unemployment rate in the Anchorage area fell to 3.9 percent in May, down from 4.1 in April. The only region with a lower rate was Southeast, down from 4.1 percent to 3.5 in May, mostly reflected by seasonal hiring in Haines and Skagway. From near 8 percent unemployment claims in April, both towns dropped to 5.7 percent in Haines and 3.1 percent in Skagway. Only Juneau’s 3 percent and Sitka’s 2.9 percent were lower.