10 Possible Reasons Unemployment Insurance Claims are Low

It's no secret that the state is in a recession. Alaska has been losing jobs since the fourth quarter of 2015, and total and average wages have both declined. At the same time, Alaska's unemployment rate has slowly increased from a low of 6.4 percent in mid-2015 to 7.2 percent in October 2017. This triggered extended benefits for unemployment insurance, effective as of November. EB allows for up to an additional 13 weeks of benefits on top of the regular allowed maximum of 26 weeks.