Oil, construction losses will affect other professional services.

• Position: Reprint

Professional and business services is a broad industry, responsible for 13 percent of all payroll jobs in Anchorage. It includes law firms, engineering firms, employment services, tech support companies, and janitorial services and refuse companies. Because it has so many unrelated components, it's a tough sector to forecast.

Its weakest link for 2016 will be related to losses in the oil and construction industries. The architectural and engineering services slice, which represents 22 percent of the industry and more than 4,200 jobs, is strongly tied to oil and construction. As a result, professional and business services is forecast to lose about 300 jobs in 2016, or about 1.5 percent.

Prudhoe Bay Jobs Up through 2015 2005 to 2015 2005 6,511 2006 7,781 2007 9,069 2008 11,196 2009 10,417 2010 10,485 2011 10,565 2012 10,848 2013 10,967 2014 12,313 2015 * 12,997 * Preliminary Reprinted from Anchorage Forecast, Alaska Economic Trends 1/2016, by Neal Fried. Data source: Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Research and Analysis Section

Statewide Employment Forecast--Employment by Industry, 2014 to 2016 2014 2015 Monthly Monthly Average (1) Average (1) Total Nonfarm Employment (2) 337,600 339,300 Total Private Sector 255,400 257,500 Natural Resources and Mining 17,300 17,500 Oil and Gas 14,100 14,300 Construction 17,800 18,000 Manufacturing 14,400 14,000 Retail Trade 36,800 37,300 Wholesale Trade 6,500 6,400 Transportation, Warehousing and 21,500 21,700 Utilities Information 6,200 6,200 Financial Activities 12,100 12,300 Professional and Business Services 30,000 30,300 Educational (3) and Health Services 46,800 47,100 Health Care 33,900 34,400 Leisure and Hospitality 34,200 34,900 Other Services 11,800 11,800 Government 82,200 81,800 Federal Government (4) 14,900 14,900 State Government (5) 26,500 25,800 Local Government (6) 40,800 41,100 Change Percent 2016 2014 to Change...