Alaska jobs continued steady, but slow, growth in November as economy emerges from pandemic recession

Alaska employment continued a gradual but steady increase in November compared with the same month of 2020, when the state’s economy was bogged down in the COVID-19 recession.

The state’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate, a measure of workers seeking jobs, decreased to 6 percent in November, a slight drop from 6.1 percent in October, state labor economists said in an analysis that accompanied release of the November data.

The national unemployment rate also dropped from 4.6 percent in October to 4.2 percent in November, reflecting a strengthening national economy.

Wage and salary jobs were up 2.4 percent year-over-year in November, a slightly slower pace of improvement from October, when jobs were up 2.8 percent over the same month year prior, according to the labor department data.

Total employment reached 304,100 in November, up from 296,900 in November 2020 but still down substantially from pre-pandemic November, 2019, when jobs totaled 317,200.

Leisure and hospitality employment grew sharply in October and November, up 11.1 percent in October and 12.9 percent in November compared with the same months of 2020. Both months were still well below the October and November of 2019, however.

Still, the trend of rising restaurant and drinking establishment employment is a reflection of more disposable income and discretionary spending in the Alaska economy, since the employment in these months is fueled mainly by in-state resident spending and not so much visitor spending, which is more a feature of summer and early fall.

The trend was also up for high-wage industries like oil and gas and construction. Petroleum jobs were up 600 in November and 500 in October compared with the same months of 2020, while construction gained 400 in November and 300 in October compared with November and October of 2020.

Oil and gas still have a long way to go to make up for sharp job cuts in 2020. Although November 2021 showed a gain from 2020 the number of workers was 3,100 down from those in pre-pandemic November 2019.

Construction appears to have been less affected by the pandemic because many construction contractors were busy with federal and military projects that were not curtailed during the pandemic as were many petroleum projects and drilling.

Certain other industries showed strong gains in November, at least compared with the months of 2020 hit by pandemic recession. Transportation, warehousing and utility jobs were up 3.1 percent against November, 2020, and professional and business services employment gained 2.4 percent in November year-over-year.

These industries are basic to a recovering economy, with transportation and warehousing reflecting the movement of durable goods, and professional and business services reflecting engineering and consulting services that go along with the planning of projects like new infrastructure and buildings.

As is not uncommon, government was less affected by the 2020 pandemic recession than most other industries.

Municipal employment was up 700 in November, year over year, but down 2,200 from November 2019 mainly due to fewer employed in schools, a consequence of the pandemic.

“Many public schools and university campuses operated remotely during the 2019-2020 school year, but this school year (2020-2021) began mostly in person,” which increased the number of school workers compared with 2020, the labor department said in its analysis.

State and federal jobs were more insulated from the pandemic recession. November jobs in state government were down 500 from November 2020, and down 700 from the same month of 2019, before the pandemic.

Federal employment hardly dropped compared with 2019. Jobs in the federal government were down 200 in November, year over year, but state labor economists attribute that mainly to the completion of the 2020 census, which meant fewer jobs for census workers.

Jobs with federal agencies in November were flat even with the federal worker count in pre-pandemic November 2019.