Alaska’s unemployment rate stood at 5.9 percent this May, unchanged from April. The Dillingham census area had higher unemployment than the state at 8.7 percent, but it among the lowest in the southwest region. 192 people were register as unemployed, down from 214 last May. The Bristol Bay Borough’s rate was the lowest in the Southwest at 3.2 percent. The Lake and Peninsula Borough was at 6.6 percent.
The southwest region had several of the highest rates in the state. The region as a whole registered a rate of 14.2 percent unemployment. That includes the Wade Hampton area with 22 percent, along with the eastern Aleutians, at 18.3 percent. That is connected to a lull between fishing seasons.
Alaska’s unemployment rate was as low as 5.9 percent only once before this April. The national average for May was 7.6 percent.