Key economic indicators are trending downward in Juneau and government job losses are the key reason, according to a presentation from Rain Coast Data Director Meilani Schijvens on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Schijvens was unveiling her annual “Southeast Alaska by the Numbers”<\/a> study (done for Southeast Conference<\/a>) that examines industries, communities and overall trends in the region. The presentation was very similar to the one she gave a year ago<\/a>, when jobs, earnings and population all decreased<\/a> across all of Southeast.<\/p>\n The silver lining in this year’s presentation was that jobs and earnings both increased in Southeast as a whole.<\/p>\n “We’re doing a bit better (than 2016),” Schijvens said. “It wasn’t a hard year to beat.”<\/p>\n Juneau did not follow suit, as the capital city saw decreases in jobs, earnings and population in 2017. There were decreases of 200 jobs (1.1 percent), $9 million in earnings (1 percent), and 450 people (1.4 percent), according to Schijvens’ presentation.<\/p>\n Schijvens said the biggest reason for the declines in these categories is the continued loss of government jobs (another similarity to per presentation a year ago). Since 2012, Southeast has lost 850 state jobs and three-quarters of those have been in Juneau, Schijvens said.<\/p>\n She chalked government job losses in the region and statewide up to the state’s budgetary struggles. Historically, according to the Rain Coast Data report, oil revenues used to make up 90 percent of the state’s budget. Now, oil covers about 30 percent because prices have dropped so significantly, according to the report. This has tightened the state’s budget (which has been slashed 40 percent since the 2013 fiscal year, the report states), and the state has had to lay people off.<\/p>\n As a whole, Schijvens told the Empire Thursday afternoon, these lost jobs are layoffs as opposed to jobs moving out of Southeast. Schijvens said this trend will likely continue, and Rain Coast Data projects state employment to drop by 2 percent from 2017.<\/p>\n Schijvens projects continued struggles for the seafood, state government, construction and retail industries. She said those in the visitor, health care, mining and tribal jobs industries should have a positive outlook. She said she expects population to continue to decrease.<\/p>\n