The Haines Borough unemployment rate dropped a full percentage point between June 2016 and June 2017, more than any other Southeast community, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Haines has more jobs, according to an Alaska Department of Labor analyst.
As of June 17, 2017 the unemployment rate in the borough was 6.7 percent, down from 7.7 percent the year prior, according to preliminary data from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
The Haines Borough is still above the 5.6 percent regional unemployment average, but below the statewide 7 percent average.
The state conducts telephone surveys and analyzes unemployment insurance claims to calculate unemployment rates, said state researcher Alyssa Rodrigues.
Haines’ 2017 monthly unemployment rates have been consistently lower than 2016.
“It’s potentially something that’s meaningful and worthy of note,” Rodrigues said. “I think the important question is, ‘What does that mean?’”
Despite a decrease in jobs, statewide unemployment insurance claims were at a record low last month, Rodrigues said, and the pattern might be similar to what’s going on in the Haines Borough.
“My guess is to what’s going on there, without boots on the ground, is that (unemployment) claims probably went down,” Rodrigues said. “They were (claiming unemployment) in 2016 and now they’ve left Haines. That could bring the unemployment rate down.”
However, while jobs are disappearing in almost every region of Alaska, the state estimates 200 jobs have been added in Southeast in the past year.
Tom Marshall of Ocean Beauty Seafoods, a seafood processing plant in Excursion Inlet, said the plant has hired more workers this summer compared to last.
“This year is a much larger season for us,” Marshall said. “We’ve actually been struggling to get as many people as we need. Last year the season was poor and we sent some people out early.”
June’s 2017 unemployment rate in Haines is the lowest since 2007, when it was 5.2 percent. The borough’s 10-year unemployment rate average for June is 8 percent.