Employment Forecast for 2014

Preliminary data show Alaska's job growth slowed to 0.5 percent in 2013, and the state is expected to add jobs at a rate of 0.4 percent this year. That would make 2014 the fifth straight year of employment increases since the 2009 downturn, but the growth will be at a lower rate than the state's 10-year average. Shrinking government employment is a major reason for this tempered forecast. Government has traditionally provided slow but steady job growth in Alaska, but several years of cuts - mainly federal - have put a damper on overall job growth.