Alaska lost 4.5% of its federal jobs in 2025, third-most among states

Alaska shed 4.5% of its federal jobs in 2025, the third-largest share lost by any state. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported the figure in the August issue of Alaska Economic Trends. The cuts picked up speed at the end of the year, according to the report.

Federal civilian jobs make up almost 5% of Alaska's employment, the department's research section wrote in a May 2025 Trends article. The military numbers are considerably larger. That share is why federal payroll changes move statewide labor totals.

A year of mounting losses

The losses have shown up in the department's monthly reports through this year. Alaska News has covered the April 2026 figures, which showed the federal government down 1,900 jobs from a year earlier and statewide employment up just 100 jobs. The June 2026 figures showed 1,300 federal cuts and 600 state government cuts against 1,000 private-sector gains, a net loss of 900 jobs. Nationally, the Pew Research Center found the federal workforce shrank 10.3% in 2025, a net of nearly 238,000 workers.

The numbers land differently for the people behind them. Dismissed federal employees in Alaska have described the cuts as chaotic and destabilizing. They said they lost not only jobs but housing tied to federal employment and ongoing research projects, and that they faced confusion about the reasons and process for their dismissals. The Foraker Group, which advises Alaska nonprofits, warns that reductions in federal personnel and programs ripple into community services, grant funding and local economic stability. The group says the effect is sharpest in places where federal employment is a major industry.

A researcher says the picture is worse

One researcher has argued the annual figure understates the contraction. Brock Wilson, a research assistant professor of economics at the University of Alaska Anchorage Institute of Social and Economic Research, told a Commonwealth North forum on June 26 that the two-year picture is steeper.

"Between April 2024 to April 2026, we've seen across the entire nation a 14.8% decline in the headcount of the US federal civilian workforce," Wilson said at that forum. "Alaska specifically has seen a 15.8% decline. So we are seeing a larger decline than most other places."

The August issue also profiles the Denali Borough economy. Both articles are posted on the department's labor statistics site.