The most recent employment report from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development for Dec. 2024 shows a nearly 2% increase in jobs across Alaska.
In total, December’s statewide job count was 1.9 percent above December 2023, an increase of 6,000 jobs.
Construction added 1,100 jobs over the year, boosted by North Slope oil and gas projects and, to a lesser degree, off-season federally funded infrastructure projects. Those projects also supported growth in professional and business services (600) and the transportation, warehousing and utilities sector (1,000). Oil and gas employment was up by 600.
Health care continued its upward trajectory, adding 1,400 jobs from last December.
Most industries added jobs, but seafood processing disruptions drove manufacturing losses (-400). Retail lost 400 jobs over the year, and the information sector and financial services remained flat.
Federal government added 200 jobs, followed by state government (600) and local government (300).
Alaska’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate ticked up from 4.6 percent in November to 4.7 in December. The U.S. rate dipped from 4.2 percent to 4.1.
On the Kenai Peninsula, however, the unemployment rate actually went down, but by just .1% and down .2% from Nov. 2024.
