Uptick is slow but appears to gather momentum
It’s gradual, but an increase in statewide wage and salary employment that started in February is continuing. Jobs were up 0.3 percent in preliminary data from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported for March. The comparison is of March employment with the same month of 2018. Construction led the increase with a gain of 8.1 percent, or 1,100 jobs, followed by oil and gas, which was 2.1 percent up, or 200 workers. The strength in construction mainly reflects significant building on military-releated facilities near Eielson Air Force Base east of Fairbanks. With oil, the improvement is linked to a robust win- ter exploration season on the North Slope. The Eielson construction can be seen as a temporary bump – facilities for new F-35 squadrons coming in will be complete in 2020 – the influx of new military population will cause continuing building activity in housing and other support infrastructure. The oil increase is likely to continue, however, as development work on new North Slope discoveries kicks into gear. Other sectors of employment reflected an economy that is stabilizing after three years of jobs losses, with jobs in some industries still declining. Two industries that reflect consumer spending include retail, where jobs were down 0.3 percent, and leisure and hospitality employement, mainly eating and drinking establishments, which was up 1 percent year over year. Health care gained 1 percent, a slowdown from higher monthly growth rates in recent years, a trend possibly linked to uncertainties in state health care spending.