The state labor department says Alaska’s unemployment rate ended 2016 at 6.7 percent. That preliminary, seasonally adjusted rate for December compares to 6.8 percent in November. The rate stood at 6.6 percent in December 2015. Nationally, the unemployment rate last month was 4.7 percent.
Recent News
Aleutians volcano sends up ash cloud; aircraft warned
An Alaska volcano that has been erupting periodically since mid-December has sent up another ash cloud. The Alaska Volcano Observatory says Bogoslof Volcano in the Aleutian lslands erupted at 1:17 p.m. Friday. Pilots report an ash cloud reached 36,000 feet. Ash clouds higher than 20,000 feet are a threat to intercontinental jet aircraft because ash…
Alaska legislators see urgency in budget work but face rifts
Alaska legislators agree on the need to address the state’s multibillion-dollar budget deficit. But rifts remain over how best to do that, with divisions forming over taxes, how much to keep cutting spending and whether the state needs to tinker with Alaskans’ beloved yearly oil wealth check. A new 90-day legislative session begins Tuesday. Many…
Suspect turns himself in after fatal hit-and-run
A man is facing prosecution in a fatal hit-and-run collision after turning himself into police. The name of the woman who died early Saturday in Anchorage has been withheld pending notification of her next of kin. Authorities responded to a report of a collision and found the woman’s body. Investigators determined a gray Chevrolet Sonic…
ConocoPhillips announces oil discovery
ConocoPhillips has announced an oil discovery where production could start as early as 2023. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the site in the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve could yield as much as 100,000 barrels of oil per day. ConocoPhillips Alaska president Joe Marushack said the discovery could lead to thousands of construction jobs as well…
Alaska sues federal agencies over hunting prohibitions
The state of Alaska is suing two federal agencies over game management on national refuges and preserves. The lawsuit filed Friday against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service challenges their prohibition of certain hunting methods and management techniques approved by the state. Among the “customary and traditional methods of harvest”…