LISTEN: More women, young Alaskans, among unprecedented number of unemployment filings in April

Alaska Public Media

Published June 18, 2020 at 7:27 PM AKDT

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JC Penny, located inside the 5th Avenue Mall, posts a closed sign on its doors. The 5th Avenue Mall is temporarily closed. (Hannah Lies/Alaska Public Media)

In April, more than 48,000 Alaskans filed for unemployment. That's more than all of 2019. The numbers stem from job losses related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Jenna Luhrs is an economist with the Alaska Department of Labor. She's taken a close look at filing details. Like many other things in the past few months, Luhrs says the numbers were unprecedented.

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