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Alaska's Unemployment Rate is Once Again Higher than the U.S. Rate

Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development

Alaska’s unemployment rate remained steady in September at 6.8-percent according to the latest data released on Friday. That’s unchanged from the rate recorded back in August. Alaska’s rate is well above the national unemployment rate, which stood at 5.9-percent in August. Alaska’s non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.9-percent last month. That’s down slightly from the 6.2-percent recorded back in August. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development notes that the lowest unemployment rate of the year typically falls in September. That’s because schools are back in session but at the same time there is still some economic activity associated with Alaska’s busy summer. The Department notes that unemployment rates fell last month in 17 of the 29 boroughs and census areas in Alaska. The Southwest region of Alaska continues to be the only region with double digit unemployment. The rate was 12.1-percent last month. That’s down slightly from the 12.3-percent recorded in August. The Dillingham Census Area posted an unemployment rate of 9.4-percent in September. That’s up from the 8.5-percent rate recorded in August. The Bristol Bay Borough’s unemployment rate stands at 2.7-percent. That’s up from the 2-percent recorded in August. The Lake and Peninsula Borough posted a rate of 6.1-percent, which is down from the 7.4-percent recorded back in August. The September unemployment rate in the Aleutians East Borough was 7.6-percent and it was 5.8-percent in the Aleutians West Census Area. The unemployment rate in the Bethel Census Area was recorded at 15.6-percent, which is down slightly from the 15.9-percent rate recorded back in August. The highest unemployment rate in the State last month was the 20.5-percent recorded in the Wade Hampton Census Area. That may be high but it’s down from the 22.7-percent rate recorded in August. A look around the state shows that the Anchorage Mat-Su region had an unemployment rate of 5.2-percent in September while the rate in the Gulf Coast region was 6.2-percent. The Interior region posted a rate of 5.7-percent and the rate in the Northern region was 9.1-percent. The rate in Southeast was 5.2-percent. The unemployment data from September can be found on the website of the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.