Latest Alaska unemployment numbers show continued economic stagnation

New unemployment claims data shows Alaskans are continuing to lose work as the COVID-19 pandemic wears on.

The data for last week shows there were 4,809 initial unemployment claims, up 284 from the previous week. There were 19,980 continuing claims.

“It’s confirmation that Alaska’s labor market is still in a pretty dark place,” University of Alaska Anchorage economics professor Mouhcine Guettabi said.

On Friday, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development announced November employment was at 293,500 jobs, down 7.4% from a year prior. Leisure and hospitality jobs were down 22% — a loss of 7,000 jobs from last November, the state said.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 8.1% remains higher than the national rate of 6.7%.

Guettabi said the numbers are in no way surprising, but he said they are a reflection of the urgent need for more government assistance, at the federal and state levels.

“The economy is not going to just start again,” he said.

As of Saturday evening, lawmakers in Congress were still negotiating on a new COVID-19 relief package.

In mid-November, about 40,800 people total received unemployment aid, about 1,000 more than in each of the previous six weeks.

That data reflected a time just before the Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson closed bars and restaurants to indoor service for the month of December, likely leading to more unemployment insurance claims.