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Alaska Resident Workforce Continues to Gain Strength

February. 1, 2000
No. 00-31

Alaska Resident Workforce Continues to Gain Strength
Report Shows Dramatic Improvement in Resident Hire

Alaska continued to show significant improvement in resident hire in 1998, according to a newly released report from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. More than 80 percent of all workers employed in Alaska in 1998 were residents, the highest rate of resident worker employment since 1988.

"We're working with employers, labor organizations, and training providers to see that Alaskans are trained and qualified for, and have first crack at, jobs in Alaska," said Ed Flanagan, Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. "While there's still a lot of work to do, we're making progress. We've seen a dramatic improvement in resident hire since 1992, when nonresident hire peaked at nearly 24 percent or 78,000 employees. In 1998, that number dropped to 69,551 nonresident workers or 19.5 percent, the lowest rate of nonresident employment in a decade."

The number of resident workers employed in Alaska increased by 6,406 workers in 1998 to nearly 287,000, a 2.4 percent increase from 1997, while the number of nonresident workers decreased by 1,777. Resident earnings increased over 5 percent from 1997 to 1998 or $353 million while total nonresident earnings increased by nearly $35 million.

The report, "Nonresidents Working in Alaska-1998," was prepared by the department's research and analysis division. An article appears in February's issue of Alaska Economic Trends. Other highlights of the report include:

  • Total wage and salary earnings in private sector, state and local government jobs totaled $8.23 billion in 1998. Nonresidents earned about 11.3 percent of the total (or $929.6 million) a small decline from the 11.4 percent of total wages paid to nonresidents in 1997.
  • Despite a loss of 1,310 workers, the food processing industry continues improvement in resident hire performance over 1997. The number of resident workers decreased by only 42 workers while resident earnings increased by about $3.9 million. The number of nonresident workers in seafood processing declined by 1,268 between 1997 and 1998.
  • Alaska's construction industry paid approximately $527 million to Alaska residents in 1998, up $11 million from 1997. About $74 million were paid to nonresidents in 1998, $4 million less than 1997 nonresident earnings of $78 million. About 12.3 percent of total earnings were paid to nonresidents, less than the private sector average. About 400 more resident construction workers were employed in 1998 over 1997, while the number of nonresident construction workers declined by 5 percent (or 282 workers) from 1997 to 1998.
  • Resident earnings in the oil industry were $536.5 million in 1998, up $41.1 million from 1997. Earnings paid to nonresidents in the industry were $193 million in 1998, up $29.3 million from the year before and 26.4 percent of total earnings paid in that sector. Major oil companies paid out 27.3 percent of their earnings to nonresidents while oilfield service companies paid 25.7 percent of earnings to nonresidents.

To obtain a copy of the report, or for more information, contact Jeff Hadland, Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Research and Analysis, at 907-465-6031, email Jeff_Hadland@labor.state.ak.us, or visit their website at https://laborstats.alaska.gov/.

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