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December
1999 |
Long Term Retrospective |
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As Alaska approaches the year
2000, the staff of Alaska Economic Trends thought it would be an
opportune moment to look back at major economic trends that have
helped shape Alaska since statehood. Alaska has moved from the formative
days of statehood through oil and gas's rise to dominance in the
economy and on to life after Prudhoe Bay.
December 1999 Trends |
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November
1999 |
Transportation |
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Nearly 22,000 people work in Alaska's
transportation industry, making it one of the state's larger employers.
Employment in transportation is greater than in the state's timber,
oil, and construction industries. In fact, it employs about the
same number of people as state government.
November 1999 Trends
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October
1999 |
Kenai |
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The Kenai Peninsula Borough's
economy is one of amazing diversity. Unlike many places in Alaska,
where one or two industries dominate the economy, the Peninsula's
economy requires considerably more effort to describe. In a nutshell,
the economic strength of the borough is its diversity.
October 1999 Trends |
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September
1999 |
Kodiak |
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Alaska's biggest island, and
the second largest in the nation, is Kodiak Island. With its surrounding
islands, it is home of the Kodiak Island Borough, which encompasses
6,463 square miles of land, an area larger than the state of Connecticut.
The Borough has 1,274 miles of coast, and many fjords, peninsulas
and capes.
September 1999 Trends |
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August
1999 |
The Trends 100 |
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For the eighth year in a row,
Carr Gottstein Foods claimed the top spot on the list of largest
Alaska employers for 1998. This will be Carrs' last year at the
top because its recent buyout by Safeway will mean all operations
will move under the Safeway corporate umbrella. This practically
insures that Safeway Stores, ranked 10th in 1998, will move to number
one in 1999.
August 1999 Trends
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July 1999 |
Skagway |
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During the Klondike gold rush
of the late 1890s, thousands headed north to Alaska and the Yukon
Territory in search of personal fortune. Goldseekers came through
Skagway, the port nearest to embarkation points for the famous Chilkoot
and White Pass trails, on their way to Dawson City and points beyond.
The first boatloads of stampeders arrived in Skagway and nearby
Dyea in the summer of 1897. By October, a Northwest Mounted Police
report estimated Skagway's population at more than 20,000.
July 1999 Trends |
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June 1999 |
The Cost of Living |
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"How expensive is it to
live in Alaska?" "What is the rate of inflation in Alaska?"
These are two of the questions most frequently asked of the Alaska
Department of Labor's Research and Analysis section. In answer to
these questions, this article provides some of the latest cost-of-living
measurements available for Alaska and explains the uses and limitations
of these data.
June 1999 Trends |
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May 1999 |
Forecasts for 1999 and
2000 |
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Alaska's economy will continue
to grow through 2000, although forecast employment growth rates
in 1999 and 2000 will be among the slowest in Alaska during the
last 10 years. A contracting oil and gas industry and the associated
impacts in other sectors of the economy will put the brakes on the
state's job growth.
May 1999 Trends |
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April 1999 |
The Year 1998 In Review |
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Alaska's job base grew 2.5% in
1998, with growth accelerating for the second consecutive year.
Statewide, 6,700 jobs were added, the largest numerical increase
since 1990.
April 1999 Trends
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March 1999 |
Prince William Sound |
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Since the oil spill of 1989,
the economies of Prince William Sound have undergone a variety of
changes some dramatic and others more subtle. Only a few broad generalizations
can be made about the economy of the Sound itself. That is because
the region represents not a single economy but five distinct communities
that usually operate independently of each other.
March 1999 Trends |
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February
1999 |
The Gender Gap in Earnings |
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Women in Alaska earn less than
men, on average. In 1997 Alaska females had wage and salary earnings
only 65 percent as much as Alaska males, earning $19,070 versus
average male earnings of $29,339. Females make up 47 percent of
total workers.
February 1999 Trends |
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January
1999 |
The Northwest Arctic Borough |
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Hugging Kotzebue Sound and belted
by the Arctic Circle, the Northwest Arctic Borough is Alaska's second
largest borough. Only the North Slope Borough is larger. Although
the Northwest Arctic Borough was not formed until 1986 and its 11
communities are spread out over nearly 36,000 square miles, it is
one of the most economically and culturally unified political subdivisions
in the state.
January 1999 Trends |