Boroughs with the highest unemployment in Alaska
The first jobs report fully under the new Trump administration showed a softening job market, with the unemployment rate ticking up to 4.1% in February, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures released March 7.
Job growth increased but fell below expectations, one of several possible fissures appearing in the once rock-solid labor market. Businesses are pulling back on hiring as the economic forecast and policy outlook grow murkier due to volatile trade policies and large cuts to the federal workforce.
Federal government employment fell by 10,000 in February, pushing up total cuts to the federal workforce. In the first two months of 2025, 62,530 federal workers were let go. However, the most recent cuts, including the Department of Education's workforce getting slashed by nearly half, have not yet appeared in official jobs data. Retail employment also fell by 6,000.
The broader unemployment index, known as the U-6, which also includes laborers working part-time because they can't find full-time work, and those who want to work but have given up searching, rose to 8%, its highest since October 2021.
To get a glimpse of regional variations in employment, Stacker compiled a list of boroughs with the highest unemployment rates in Alaska, using BLS data. Boroughs are ranked by their preliminary unemployment rate in January 2025, with initial ties broken by the number of unemployed people within that borough, though some ties may remain. Borough-level unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.
Key takeaways: Jobs report shows softening labor market
February's job growth of 151,000 fell below economists' expected gains of 160,000, showing the labor market is cooling faster than predicted. Experts say many companies weighing policy changes and economic uncertainty are deciding it's safer to hold off on hiring decisions for now.
"If you were a company and you were saying, 'I'm looking to expand, or I'm looking to hire,' you would have investors in those companies saying, 'Are you crazy?'" Ron Hetrick, senior labor economist at Lightcast, told Marketplace.
Consumer spending fell in January for the first time in two years, which may have led to layoffs or hiring slowdowns, Nela Richardson, ADP's chief economist, told NBC News.
The big story: From bold promises to frozen labor market
After an initial market pop following Trump's electoral win, indexes have slumped to below when he took office, and uncertainty about the future of the markets is a common theme. Are threatened tariffs in place, delayed, reversed, or ramped up? Has that federal worker been fired or given their job back? Are those federal dollars slashed or reinstated? It's a question mark that changes daily.
Research shows that uncertainty invites lower investment, slows employment, and increases financial market volatility. The word "uncertain" showed up 47 times in the March edition of the Beige Book, the Federal Reserve's snapshot of reports from across the nation, compared to 17 times in the previous report from January.
The new administration's blitz of executive orders and trade policy waffling have cast a dense fog over the short-term economic outlook. One thing that is known? Uncertainty isn't good for business planning, job creation, or hiring.
In a March 12 interview with Semafor, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon noted that average consumers likely don't change "what they're going to do because they read about tariffs," but "companies might."
"Uncertainty is not a good thing," Dimon added.
To get a better idea of your community's current economy, read on to see the boroughs with the highest unemployment in Alaska.
30. North Slope Borough
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.2%
--- 1-month change: -1.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -1.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,520 people (208 unemployed)
28. Aleutians East Borough (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.5%
--- 1-month change: -2.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,102 people (73 unemployed)
28. Aleutians West Census Area (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.5%
--- 1-month change: -1.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,833 people (136 unemployed)
27. Sitka Borough/city
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.2%
--- 1-month change: +1.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,018 people (169 unemployed)
25. Anchorage Borough/municipality (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 151,082 people (6,602 unemployed)
25. Juneau Borough/city (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 16,679 people (733 unemployed)
24. Fairbanks North Star Borough
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.7%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 46,257 people (2,175 unemployed)
23. Ketchikan Gateway Borough
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.6%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,622 people (370 unemployed)
22. Matanuska-Susitna Borough
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6%
--- 1-month change: +0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 53,073 people (3,159 unemployed)
20. Wrangell Borough/city (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.5%
--- 1-month change: +1.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 800 people (52 unemployed)
20. Lake and Peninsula Borough (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.5%
--- 1-month change: -1.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 582 people (38 unemployed)
19. Kenai Peninsula Borough
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.6%
--- 1-month change: +1.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 26,975 people (1,768 unemployed)
18. Kodiak Island Borough
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.7%
--- 1-month change: -1.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -1.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 5,366 people (357 unemployed)
17. Yakutat Borough/city
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 7.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -1.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 342 people (25 unemployed)
16. Southeast Fairbanks Census Area
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 7.4%
--- 1-month change: +1.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,407 people (252 unemployed)
15. Chugach Census Area
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 7.5%
--- 1-month change: -0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: 0.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,497 people (264 unemployed)
14. Dillingham Census Area
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 8.1%
--- 1-month change: -0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,617 people (131 unemployed)
13. Nome Census Area
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 8.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,421 people (389 unemployed)
12. Petersburg Borough
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 9%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,294 people (117 unemployed)
10. Northwest Arctic Borough (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 9.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,292 people (308 unemployed)
10. Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 9.4%
--- 1-month change: +1.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,318 people (219 unemployed)
9. Bristol Bay Borough
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 10.7%
--- 1-month change: +2.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 234 people (25 unemployed)
8. Bethel Census Area
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 11.4%
--- 1-month change: +1.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,899 people (786 unemployed)
6. Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 11.7%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,403 people (280 unemployed)
6. Hoonah-Angoon Census Area (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 11.7%
--- 1-month change: +2.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,139 people (133 unemployed)
5. Haines Borough
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 12.2%
--- 1-month change: +3.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 735 people (90 unemployed)
4. Copper River Census Area
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 13.5%
--- 1-month change: +3.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +2.9 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,226 people (165 unemployed)
3. Denali Borough
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 13.7%
--- 1-month change: -0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 679 people (93 unemployed)
2. Kusilvak Census Area
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 17.5%
--- 1-month change: +1.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,399 people (420 unemployed)
1. Skagway Municipality
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 19.1%
--- 1-month change: +1.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +4.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 550 people (105 unemployed)
This story features data reporting by Karim Noorani, writing by Ben Popken, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 50 states.
