The average wage in Alaska rose 3.5 times faster than inflation in 2023, according to a new report by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
The report’s author, Karinne Wiebold, found that Alaskans’ average pay rose 5.2% in 2023, surpassing the 1.5% inflation. She said the number of jobs rose in Alaska and so did the total amount of wages paid.
“And then the fact that that went through pretty much every industry in almost every area. That’s what I found most remarkable, was how pervasive the increases were,” she said.
It's the first time since 2020 wages have outpaced inflation. The state saw deflation that year, which Wiebold said is abnormal. Then, in 2021 and 2022, she said wage increases were “wiped out” by inflation.
Almost all industries grew, headed by leisure and hospitality, health care and construction, the report said. Information and financial industries were the only industries that shrunk, according to the report.
Wiebold said those dips were expected.
“Both of those have been on a decade-plus long-term decline,” Wiebold said. “It's just a longer continuation, and it has a lot to do with technology and the changing ways that we do business.”
Southeast communities saw the highest wage increases last year largely in response to a record tourism season that brought 1.6 million cruise ship passengers. The Bristol Bay Borough experienced the highest job growth, at 15%, which Wiebold said is likely linked to seafood processing.
The construction industry saw 6% job growth last year, and Wiebold said various construction projects across the state could put more pressure on employment in the coming years. And she said that pressure could impact wages.
“Because we're still grappling with this worker shortage, the fact that we need a lot of construction workers in that we have these projects that have like, kind of a timeliness issue to them, I'm going to guess is probably going to increase wages more in, you know, the time after 2023 as they continue to try and meet that demand for labor,” she said.
The report said the health care industry contributed the most to the total wage growth last year, paying $199 million more in wages than in 2022.
