CNN's "State of the Union with John King" looked at the Alaska economy over the weekend. Excerpt:
Brad Gillespie, the Anchorage, Alaska, regional manager for the job centers, says about 900 people a week visit the midtown facility. That's up 20 percent to 30 percent from the same time a year ago.
"We're a seasonal economy up here, and we're getting into winter season," Gillespie said. "So tourism is down. Construction work, too. "And the Anchorage International Airport is an international hub for freight operations, and that's been impacted by the economy turning down."
New numbers released Friday show that the state unemployment rate is 8.4 percent -- up from 6.7 percent a year ago. The job market is so tight that the state now posts a caution on its Division of Employment Security Web site suggesting people not move to Alaska unless they already have work lined up.
"We have a fair amount of people who think that Alaska is the promised land, and they have misconceptions maybe about what is up here. And they load up the family and head out on the Alaska highway, and we want to encourage them not to do that until they have something lined up before they get here," Gillespie said.
Full online story here.
Related: Alaska loses jobs for 5th straight month (ADN)
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