Private sector employment: Alaska increases at higher rate than US.

• Author: Malone, Michael
• Position: ALASKA TRENDS

The level of private sector employment nationwide is gaining but still trails its highest level reached in 2007. Alaska's private sector employment reached a new record high in 2012 according to the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), a cooperative program involving the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the US Department of Labor and the State Employment Security Agencies. QCEW produces a comprehensive tabulation of employment and wage information for workers covered by state unemployment insurance laws and federal workers covered by the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees program.

Employment data under QCEW represent the number of covered workers who worked during, or received pay for, the pay period including the twelfth of the month. Excluded are members of the armed forces, the self-employed, proprietors, domestic workers, unpaid family workers, and railroad workers covered by the Railroad Unemployment Insurance System.

The chart illustrates private sector employment from 2002 through 2012 as reported by the...