Alaska Employment: 324,300 Jobs Drops March Unemployment to 4.6 Percent – Alaska Business Magazine

The industry sector that lost the most jobs was information services. After months of a flat workforce, the number dropped from 4,600 to 4,400, or a 4.3 percent contraction. The leisure and hospitality sector also lost 200 jobs, year over year, out of a larger pool of workers, for 0.6 percent shrinkage. And the manufacturing sector counted 12,200 jobs in March, 100 fewer than the year before, for a 0.8 percent loss.

Meanwhile, North Slope activity boosted the construction sector to double-digit growth: 16.4 percent, adding 2,400 workers more than March 2023, for a total of 17,000. Healthcare and the transportation, warehousing, and utilities sectors each grew by more than 1,000 workers, too. The mining and logging category, which includes oil and gas, added 1,200 jobs, yet just 500 of those are attributed to oil and gas.

The relatively large percentage gain in job totals ranks Alaska among the fastest-growing states. Only Idaho (3.7 percent) and Nevada (3.4 percent) had high year-over-year growth rates. However, Nevada still struggles with a 5.1 percent unemployment rate, the second highest, surpassed only by California’s 5.3 percent.