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Alaska’s summer hiring boom is in full effect. The economy added about 20,000 jobs in June, according to monthly employment statistics released Friday by the state Labor Department.

State Economist Mali Abrahamson says the visitor industry led the way, adding more than 5,000 jobs from May to June. Tourism jobs were up more than 2,400 from June 2010.

“Putting us back closer to levels that we were seeing in 2007 and 2008 before consumer confidence kind of tanked during the recession and we saw a decline,” Abrahamson said.

Health care continues to have one of the largest and fastest growing job bases in Alaska, while oil and gas and mining have remained steady or seen moderate growth. The government sector took a dip from May to June as jobs in education dropped from payrolls for the summer.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose slightly to 7.5 percent in June. But Abrahamson calls the increase statistically insignificant, as May’s rate was revised down from 7.4 percent to 7.3 percent. She says the increase can be attributed to more people looking for work.

For the 31st consecutive month Alaska’s unemployment rate was below the national average of 9.2 percent – up slightly from 9.1 percent in May. Abrahamson says states with resource-based economies, like Alaska’s, appear to have done well at weathering the national recession.

“Rather than the manufacturing, the residential construction – where you saw a lot of losses in the Lower 48 – not so much up in Alaska,” said Abrahamson.” And that’s true of other states that have similar features, North Dakota for instance.”

Juneau’s unemployment rate went from 4.9 percent in May to 5.5 percent last month – the same rate as June 2010.

The lowest unemployment rate in the state last month was two percent in Bristol Bay, where hiring in the fishing industry was strong. The highest rate was 23.5 percent in Western Alaska’s Wade Hampton Census Area, which has experienced chronic under-employment.

The search continues today for a missing plane that crashed in the mountains near Eaglecrest Ski Area on Douglas Island.

The U.S. Coast Guard says a debris field was found yesterday evening, including an engine and propeller, at the base of a 50-foot cliff after searchers traced an emergency locater transmitter signal.

Low clouds, wind, and poor visibility hampered yesterday’s search for the single engine Cessna – reportedly flying from Hoonah to Juneau. Coast Guard spokesman David Mosely says the plane was coming from Anchorage and had stopped in Hoonah. He says the pilot failed to make a scheduled check-in with Juneau flight services and was reported missing at 6:43 a.m.

“They had done a call in with the air services, the flight service there in Juneau, at about 10 miles out and then did not do their scheduled next check in before landing there in Juneau,” Mosely said.

The EPIRB signal took a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter low over the Mount Ben Stewart and Cropley Lake area yesterday afternoon, but wind and low clouds forced the chopper crew to abandon the air search before they could get an exact location.

Meanwhile, Alaska State Troopers coordinated the ground search and called in Juneau Mountain Rescue. JMR set up an incident command at the Eaglecrest Lodge and sent a team into the woods west of the ski area. Federal Aviation Administration officials and the Civil Air Patrol also were involved in the search. Eaglecrest employees and Alaska Zipline Adventures provided support at base camp.

Trooper Sargent Tim Birt said it was a “moment by moment operation,” with heavy rain and wind moving through the area.

“The aircraft is described as a yellow, white and brown for the colors, Birt said. “The tail number is N as in November, 73045, and it’s a small single engineer aircraft.”

Birt does not know if any passengers were on board.

According to the FAA Registry for Aircraft N-Number, the plane is a Cessna 140, registered to Darrel A. Strachan and Dianna L. Strachan, of San Jose, California.

Coast Guard spokesman Mosely said the plane was based in Anchorage.

The Juneau Economic Development Council analyzed data from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey that shows men in the Capital City make 42 percent more than their female counterparts.

Of course the problem isn’t unique to Juneau. Nationwide, the same survey indicates men earn 29 percent more than women. Statewide it’s 37 percent.

But as always, numbers only tell part of the story. Casey Kelly has more.

The Juneau man convicted of baiting bears and illegally shooting a wolf is now in jail. Park Myers III could be behind bars for up to a month because he was working while he accepted unemployment insurance benefits. Myers was still on probation after pleading guilty in the poaching case. It included the taking of a black wolf believed to be the friendly and popular wolf known by many as ‘Romeo.’

Matt Miller has the story.

Rachelle Waterman was sentenced on July 15th in Craig to three years in prison for her role in the brutal murder of her mother six years ago. As Deanna Garrison reports, an Anchorage jury found the 22 year old woman guilty in February of criminally negligent homicide. She was not convicted on much more serious charges of murder and kidnapping.