TheLinkFallOct2023

THE LINK: OCTOBER 2023 42 Photo by Tim Bradner Fairbanks’ River Walk along the Chena River. Interior Alaska offers opportunities for future development Fairbanks’ economy appears stable. Job growth of 1.1% is forecast for this year by the State Department of Labor and Workforce Development, and while this is somewhat lower than other regions of the state, there has also been less volatility in Fairbanks over the last two years than in those regions. In Anchorage, 1.6% growth is predicted and 7.5% in Southeast Alaska. Fairbanks also did not lose a lot of jobs during the pandemic years mainly because the community is less dependent on tourism and enjoys the stability of its military bases and the University of Alaska Fairbanks with its federally-supported research. Southeast Alaska lost 13.5% on its jobs during the pandemic and Anchorage lost 7.9%, Dan Robinson, chief of research at the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development, said in a briefing on regional employment last March. Fairbanks, however, lost only 6.6% of its jobs, he said. Things are now looking up for Fairbanks. Bryce Ward, Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor, said there is a robust Fairbanks’ economy stable amid challenges

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