Alaska Employment: 342,300 Jobs Puts June Unemployment Rate at 3.7 Percent

Alaska’s unemployment rate barely budged from May to June, nearly equaling the nationwide rate. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) puts the seasonally adjusted figure at 3.7 percent, up from 3.6 in May while returning to the same level as April and March.

Hovering at Historic Lows

The comparable national rate flipped the other way, from 3.7 percent in May to 3.6 in June. Alaska typically has higher unemployment than the rest of the country, with brief exceptions during the COVID-19 spike in early 2020 and for one month in early 2022. Since then, state and national figures have converged just below 4 percent.

The unadjusted unemployment rate in the Anchorage area popped back up to 3.9 percent from 3.3 percent in May, matching the same rate from a year earlier. The state’s lowest unemployment was in the Aleutians East Borough at 2 percent as Bering Sea fisheries revved up.

Total number of jobs in Alaska was up by 1.9 percent year over year, an increase of 6,400 since June 2022. DOLWD estimates total nonfarm employment at 342,300, a seasonal swing of more than 10,000 from the May total.