Economy to Maintain Steady Course

Alaska's economy will continue to grow slowly through 1998, extending a nine-year string of job gains into its second decade. The industries critical to job growth during this period are air cargo handling, services, hard rock mining, trade, and the visitor sector. On the down side, segments of Alaska's oil and gas industry, the manufacturing sector and to a lesser extent the public industries. In spite of the negative factors, positive influences on the economy will tip the balance toward job increases. However, the result is job growth that falls under the 1.0% mark in 1997 and rebounds to 1.0% in 1998.