Dr. Ralph Townsend presented information about Alaska's demographics and highlighted an ongoing downward trend in labor force participation. How long has this been happening, is Alaska different from the rest of the U.S., and what can the state do to address it?
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All of the US is seeing significant demographic changes that will shape the workforce over the next 20 years, but these changes are especially significant in Alaska. Moreover, Alaska's population is strongly influenced by migration to and from Alaska. The shortage of workers during the Pandemic Recession may be in part a "tipping point" effect, where declines in the workforce that would have happened over several years were accelerated by COVID-19 changes. A February 2022 presentation by Dr. Ralph Townsend examined the implications of several demographic changes for the future of Alaska's workforce.
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Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) Associate Professor of Economics, Dr. Mouhcine Guettabi, recently released his report, A simple decomposition of Alaska’s labor force participation rate, which details his research surrounding the steady decline in the percentage of people working or seeking employment over the past two decades in Alaska and the implications of that downslide.