Alaska health care employment.

• Author: Davidson, Paul
• Position: ALASKA TRENDS

The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development keeps monthly statistics on several employment sectors; combined, these sectors make up the total non-farm employment. Alaska's health care employment, with a yearly average growth of 3.52 percent between 2004 and 2011, has seen three times greater increase than overall non-farm employment (1.18 percent). Health care makes up 9.58 percent of Alaska employment with nearly twice as many jobs as natural resources-based employment. Health care employment consists of roughly 89 percent resident employment rather than workers from out of state; higher than many industries.

[GRAPHIC OMITTED]

The chart shows annual health care employment growth starting at 5.86 percent in 2004, and declining until 2008, where it hits the lowest point in the data set, 1.09...