Alaska’s job losses weren’t as steep as the national average in April, but the state’s recovery is lagging behind nearly every other state.
That’s one of the conclusions Alaska Department of Labor Research Chief Dan Robinson reached in an article in the department’s monthly Trends publication. Robinson looked at COVID-19 job losses for each state compared to the same month the year before. The pandemic’s impact on tourism is a big factor in why jobs in Alaska haven’t bounced back as high as other places.
“There are four states that have worse job numbers than us in July, and all four of them had more leisure and hospitality job loss than we did, and (more than) the U.S. did in general,” Robinson said.
In the Lower 48, states with national parks recovered a portion of their tourism with the summer driving season. But, Robinson points out, cruise traffic to Alaska just stopped.
He predicts Alaska’s recovery will look comparatively better in October, when 2020 won’t be compared to a normal peak season.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.
