March’s job count was up 2.3 percent from last March, an increase of 7,000.
All Alaska industries grew over the year except Information, which was flat. Gains were largest in leisure and hospitality (+2,000) and transportation, warehousing and utilities (+1,400), both of which sustained some of the biggest pandemic losses and are now above or approaching pre-pandemic job levels.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough, not seasonally adjusted unemployment rates, dropped from 6.5 in February to 5.0 in March 2023.
Oil and gas employment was up 400 over the year, to 7,400, but remains nearly 30 percent below pre-pandemic levels and less than half what it was at its all-time high of 15,300 in late 2014.
The public sector was up over the year, led by local government, which includes public schools (+300). State and federal government each added 100 jobs.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.7 percent in March and the comparable U.S. rate was 3.5 percent. Job openings are high, and Alaska and the nation both had more available jobs than workers. In February, the most recent month available, both had about one unemployed worker for every two job openings.
