Alaska counts 900 fewer jobs in August as federal payrolls shed 1,300

Alaska lost 900 jobs in August compared to a year earlier, a decline of 0.3 percent, as a drop of 1,300 federal jobs outweighed private-sector hiring gains. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development released the figures Friday.

Private employers added 800 jobs over the year; the public sector lost 1,700, including 400 in state government. Local government, which includes public schools, was flat.

Transportation, warehousing and utilities led the private gains with 1,300 jobs. Oil and gas added 600, the other services category added 300 and health care added 100. Manufacturing, primarily seafood processing, was down 500 jobs, which the department attributed partly to weak salmon runs. Construction lost 400. Professional and business services and leisure and hospitality were each down 200. Retail, information and financial activities were each down 100.

Alaska's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in August. The national rate was 4.1 percent. Both were unchanged from July.

The state counted 2,100 fewer jobs in July, a net loss of 900 in June, no change in May and a gain of 100 in April. The federal shortfall has eased: 1,900 below year-ago levels in April, 1,500 in May, 1,300 in each month since.

The department's August Alaska Economic Trends found Alaska lost about 4.5 percent of its federal jobs in 2025, nearly 700 positions, third among the most-affected states, and put federal employment at its lowest level since at least 1990. The 700 is the change within 2025; the 1,300 is year over year.

Economist Brock Wilson of the University of Alaska Anchorage's Institute for Social and Economic Research told a Commonwealth North forum on June 26: "Over $1.5 billion is federal civilian wages paid to Alaskan federal workers, and that's approximately $100,000 per job. So these are high-paying jobs." He put the state's federal workforce at about 15,500 and Alaska third among states in the share of its workforce employed federally.