The statewide unemployment rate in July was 4.8 percent, but the streak of 4.7 percent has been running all year, since the 4.6 percent rate in December 2024. The national rate ticked up slightly from 4.2 percent in July to 4.3 percent in August.
The unadjusted unemployment rate in the Anchorage/Mat-Su Region dropped from 4.1 percent in July to 3.5 percent in August, pulled lower by the 3.3 percent rate in the Municipality of Anchorage. No other region saw month-to-month increases, and only the Northern Region—encompassing the Nome Census Area, Northwest Arctic Borough, and North Slope Borough—ended up higher than a year ago, at 7 percent.
Several sectors saw year-over-year job losses. Financial activities and wholesale employment were both flat from July to August, at 11,000 and 6,500 workers respectively, but both counted 100 fewer jobs than in August 2024. Retail was down by 100 compared to a month earlier and a year earlier, at 36,000. And the leisure and hospitality sector was down by 100 jobs compared to August 2024 but 200 fewer than in July 2025.
The biggest percentage loss was in the information sector, counting the same 4,100 jobs in August as in July, but down by 300 from a year earlier, or 6.8 percent.