Employment Forecast for 2016

Alaska's economy faces significant headwinds in 2016, largely due to sustained low oil prices. The state is forecast to lose about 2,500 jobs in 2016, a 0.7 percent decline, after gaining 1,700 jobs in 2015. This would be the first year of job losses since 2009, when Alaska felt the wake from the national recession. The state's job growth rebounded quickly in 2010 and remained relatively strong through 2012, buoyed by the federal stimulus package, large capital budgets, and high oil prices. Growth slowed to a crawl in 2013, and employers added jobs at a yearly rate of half a percentage point or less between 2013 and 2015.