In 2019, the Alaska economy emerged from a 3-year recession after losing more than 11,000 jobs between 2015 and 2018. The recovery has, however, been modest as employment averaged 0.4% or 1,400 more jobs between January and November 2019 relative to the same period last year. Oil & Gas and Construction have led this growth as they averaged 510 and 720 more jobs, respectively. It is also important to note that the recovery has been uneven. While we only have borough level data until the month of June, figure 1 shows that a considerable number of boroughs/census areas were still losing jobs as of June 2019.
Read More
In this brief, we summarize the state’s unrestricted general fund revenues, agency operations spending, and capital budget spending between fiscal years 1975 and 2021. The severe decline in oil prices in 2015 resulted in a significant revenue decline which has then resulted in spending reductions at both the agency operation level and the capital budget. For fiscal year 2021, capital spending per person will be the third lowest since 1975 and Agency Operations will be the sixth lowest in real dollars.
Read More
Alaska's economy is in recovery mode, but how much optimism is warranted this year? Join ISER on January 26 from 12-1 pm for an online presentation with insights from economist Mouhcine Guettabi. He will give an overview of how the economy has changed since the onset of the pandemic and a look at the opportunities and challenges for Alaska in 2022.
About Dr. Mouhcine Guettabi
Read More
Director of the Center for Alaska Education Policy Research (CAEPR) and Research Assistant Professor of Education Policy, Dr. Dayna DeFeo, was recently featured by KTUU to discuss the growing concern around the number of teachers in Alaska. Dr. DeFeo explained that lower enrollment in education programs has resulted in less teachers being produced locally. On top of that, issues with the budget make it difficult to hold on to the ones that are currently working here.
Read More
Congratulations to Mouhcine Guettabi, Associate Professor of Economics at ISER, on receiving the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Community Engagement and Service and ISER Associate Director Alexandra Hill, Senior Research Professional Tobias Schwoerer, and Information System Specialist Christopher Start on being recognized for the longevity of their service to the university.
Read More
Between 2010 and 2016, Alaska’s graduation rate grew faster than the national average, increasing 8 percentage points, among the top 10 rate increases in the country. All demographic groups improved, with Native, low-income, and rural student rates growing the most. These are some of the trends described in a new Research Summary, “Alaska High School Graduation Rate Trends,” by Trang Tran, ISER Research Professional, and Alexandra Hill, Associate Director of ISER.
Read More
ISER’s Diane Hirshberg, Professor of Education Policy, contributed to the development of “Alaska, A Brief History of the State and Its Schools” in the latest edition of Education Week. The historical overview anchors a series of articles on schooling in Alaska, including cultural and geographic challenges that have helped shaped schools in Alaska.
Read More
Scott Goldsmith, Professor Emeritus of Economics at ISER, spoke with Abbey Collins of Alaska Public Radio Network last week about increased construction spending in Alaska, particularly increases in petroleum and national defense spending. These increases, along with spending as a result of the 7.1 magnitude earthquake in November, are contributing to what Goldsmith estimates to be about a 10% increase in construction spending over 2018. Goldsmith's estimates of spending by sector are available in the 16th annual construction forecast, prepared for the Associated General Contractors of Alaska.
Read More
Ralph Townsend, ISER director, gave presentations on Alaska’s economy and the state budget (PPTX, 701KB) to the Board of Directors of the Alaska Federation of Natives, CIRI’s Tikahtnu Forum and the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce in early May.
Read More
A new study of the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) program shows that an additional $1,000 PFD decreases the probability of an Alaskan child being obese by as much as 4.5 percentage points, translating to about a 22% reduction in obesity.