Alaska's unemployment rate: better than the U.S. average: Alaska Trends, an outline of significant statewide statistics, is provided by the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development.

• Author: Ainsworth, Joel
• Position: Alaska Trends

Since November 2008. Alaska has tended to fare better than the U.S. average unemployment rate. Alaska reached a short-run unemployment peak of 8.6 percent in December 2009. Since that time. it has slowly edged downward at a slightly faster rate than the U.S. unemployment average. The graph illustrates the Alaska unemployment rate against the U.S. average from 2006 through June 2010. a period which captures unemployment trends before, during and after the most recent recession.

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The unemployment rate is derived by subtracting the total number of employed individuals from the total labor force. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployed persons are considered to be individuals who "do not have a job. have actively looked for work in the past four weeks, and are currently available for work." Individuals who have quit looking for work beyond that point are dropped from the labor force count and not included in the primary unemployment rate. To account for these changes in the labor force. BLS publishes several variants of the unemployment rate. allowing researchers to capture more precise data, based on their research needs.

ALASKA TRENDS Indicator Units Period GENERAL Personal Income--Alaska US$ 1st Q10 Personal Income--United States US$ 1st Q10 Consumer Prices-Anchorage 1982-1984=100 2nd H09 Consumer Prices--United States 1982-1984=100 2nd H09 Bankruptcies Alaska Total Number Filed May Anchorage Total Number Filed May Fairbanks Total Number Filed May EMPLOYMENT Alaska Thousands May Anchorage & Mat-Su Thousands May Fairbanks Thousands May Southeast Thousands May Gulf Coast Thousands May Sectoral Distribution-Alaska Total Nonfarm Thousands May Goods Producing Thousands May Services Providing Thousands May Mining and Logging2 Thousands May Mining Thousands May Oil & Gas Thousands May Construction Thousands May Manufacturing Thousands May Seafood Processing Thousands May Trade/Transportation/Utilities Thousands May Wholesale Trade Thousands May Retail Trade Thousands May Food & Beverage Stores Thousands May General Merchandise Stores Thousands May Trans/Warehouse/Utilities Thousands May Air Transportation Thousands May Truck Transportation Thousands May Information Thousands May Telecommunications Thousands May Financial Activities Thousands May Professional & Business Svcs Thousands May Educational & Health Services Thousands May Health Care Thousands May Leisure & Hospitality Thousands May Accommodation...