Unemployment Rate Unchanged from May to June

Jul 27, 2022 | Government, News

FUNTAP P | DREAMSTIME

Alaska’s unemployment rate held steady in June after a revision slightly improved the outlook in May. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development revised the seasonally adjusted figure for May at 4.6 percent, down from 4.7, and the rate in June is also 4.6.

Slowed Recovery

The rate in Alaska remains above the national rate of 3.6 percent, which likewise was unchanged for a third month in a row.

The unadjusted rate in Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough was a combined 4.2 percent, up slightly from May. Southeast Alaska also increased slightly, from 3.8 to 4.1, while unemployment in the Interior was flat at 4.3 percent in June.

Total number of jobs increased 2.5 percent since June 2021, with 7,900 more Alaskans employed than a year earlier. That figure is a smaller improvement than the month before and still 20,100 below June 2019.

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The leisure and hospitality sector had the strongest year-over-year growth, up 10.7 percent, but the 38,200 total jobs are still below the 42,800 in June 2019. Transportation, warehousing, and utilities saw 7.5 percent growth in jobs year-over-year, with 1,600 added since June 2021, yet that sector remains 2,100 jobs below June 2019. The oil and gas sector is 2,700 jobs down from 2019.

The Department of Labor points to a few sectors that have recovered to their pre-pandemic employment: construction, healthcare, wholesale trade, and the federal government.