JUNEAU — Alaska had more jobs last month than a year earlier but the numbers are far below those before the pandemic, a new state labor department report shows.
Alaska had about 6,800 more jobs last month than in March 2021 but about 11,900 fewer jobs than in March 2019, before the pandemic, according to the report released Friday.
The biggest gains over March 2021 were in the leisure and hospitality and trade, transportation and utilities sectors. There were about 2,700 more jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector last month than a year earlier and 2,200 more in the trade, transportation and utilities sector, the report said.
But there were still 2,800 fewer leisure and hospitality jobs last month than in March 2019. The oil and gas sector, which had 500 more jobs last month than in March 2021, had 2,900 fewer jobs than it did three years prior, according to the report.
Jobs in several sectors, including health care and construction, last month exceeded those in March 2019.