Alaska Posted a 6.5-Percent Average Unemployment Rate Last Year

Alaska’s unemployment rate in January was recorded at 6.4-percent. That translates to over 27.2-thousand Alaskans being officially classified as unemployed. Alaska’s unemployment rate in January was unchanged from the 6.4-percent recorded in December. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development crunched the numbers and the average monthly unemployment rate last year was 6.5-percent. That’s down half a percentage point from the 7-percent unemployment rate recorded in 2012. The revision to the numbers resulted in the unemployment rate increasing in 9 of the 12-months last year. Alaska’s January unemployment rate of 6.4-percent is still below the national rate of 6.6-percent. Back in December the unemployment rate in the Aleutians East Borough was 19.4-percent. In January the rate dropped down to 9.9-percent. The December rate in the Aleutians West Census Area was 14.3-percent. In January the rate fell to 6.8-percent. The rest of the Southwest region recorded double digit unemployment in January. The rate in the Dillingham Census Area was 11.8-percent, which is up from the 11-percent recorded back in December. The rate in the Bristol Bay Borough in January increased from 8.1-percent up to 11.3-percent. The rate in the Lake and Peninsula Borough was also 8.1-percent back in December. In January it increased up to 11.5-percent. The January unemployment rate in the Bethel Census Area was 16.7-percent… up from the 14.6-percent recorded back in December. The Wade Hampton Census Area normally has among the highest unemployment rates in the State and January’s rate was 25.5-percent. That’s up from the 20.5-percent recorded back in December. Taken as a whole, the Southwest Region posted an unemployment rate in January of 14.7-percent. The lowest regional unemployment rate in January was the 6.1-percent in the Anchorage-Mat-Su region followed by the 8.1-percent in the Interior and the 8.7-percent recorded in both the Gulf Coast and the Southeast regions. The Northern region posted a January unemployment rate of 10-percent. The unemployment data for February is expected to be released later this week.