The number of former oil and gas workers collecting jobless benefits from the state of Alaska rose in April, though claims in all industries remain at relatively low levels, a state economist said on Friday.
The number of claimants in the oil and gas industry, which has been slammed by a long stretch of low oil prices, rose to 1,467 in April.
That's up from the 1,277 who collected checks from the state in March, said Lennon Weller, an economist with the state Labor Department.
The April levels are quite high, historically speaking.
"I'd have to back quite a few years to see levels like this," Weller said.
Over the last year, oil companies across the state have canceled projects and laid off workers to control costs, with some of the biggest workforce reductions coming at large producers such as Shell, BP and ConocoPhillips.
Jobless claims associated with the sector began rising significantly last fall, Weller said.
From October to April, 2,588 individuals received state benefits after losing their job in the sector. That compares to 1,194 individuals during the same seven-month period the year before, Weller said.
In all industries statewide, 14,875 people collected claims in April, up from 13,082 in April 2015.
Despite the year-to-year increase, the number of claimants overall remains at relatively low levels compared to several years that followed the national recession, Weller said.
"At this point it doesn't look like the job losses in oil and gas have spilled too much into the broader economy," he said.