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Danial Roberts, an employee at Viking Lumber Company, looks out at lumber from a forklift in Klawock, Alaska. (Courtesy of Viking Lumber Company)

News

Threads of the Tongass: The future of pianos and the timber industry

Timber operators say they are in crisis and unique knowledge, products will be lost

Juneau ranked eighth out of 12 communities in an annual study asking business leaders how they feel about the business climate in Southeast Alaska. (City and Borough of Juneau)

News

Uncertainty dragging down mood of Southeast business leaders in annual survey

Tariffs, layoffs, other Trump policies result in “second-lowest levels of positivity” since 2010.

Cruise ships dock in downtown Juneau on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Outlook among Alaska businesses this year plummets in statewide, Southeast surveys

SE mood last year second-highest since 2010, is second-lowest now; statewide drop biggest in eight years

The Alaska State Capitol is seen in partial morning sun on May 10, 2024. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

News

New Alaska revenue forecast worsens state’s big projected budget deficits

The state of Alaska is still facing a significant budget deficit despite a revised state revenue forecast published…

Trucks haul shipping containers and other cargo through the terminal at the Port of Los Angeles, in San Pedro, Calif., Feb. 14, 2025. President Donald Trump said that Americans would be better off in the long run from his tariffs, which he said would prevent the country from being “ripped off.” (Mark Abramson/The New York Times)

News

Trump declines to rule out recession as tariffs begin to bite

President says Americans will be better off in the long run, policies will keep country from being “ripped…

Meilani Schijvens, owner of Rain Coast Data, discusses regional economic data complied by her company during Southeast Conference’s Mid-Season Summit at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall on Tuesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Five-year economic plan for Southeast suggests spending $300M to address top priority of housing

Other top goals include boosting seafood marketing, renewable energy, locally-owned tourism enterprises

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, addresses the Southeast Conference’s Mid-Season Summit at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall on Tuesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Rough seas in Southeast during Trump’s early days, but smoother waters ahead, Murkowski tells regional leaders

“Right now people are vomiting on either of the sides of the boat…(but) we’re going to get through…

Construction workers attend to outdoor tasks on Dec. 17, 2024, at a residential project being built in downtown Anchorage. Alaska is expected to gain 1,500 construction jobs this year, according to the annual forecast published by state Department of Labor and Workforce Development economists. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

News

Construction and oil expected to lead job growth in Alaska this year

Struggling seafood processors are expected to keep shedding jobs.

Three cruise ships are docked along Juneau’s waterfront on the evening on May 10, 2023, as a Princess cruise ship on the right is departing the capital city. A “banner” year for tourism in 2023, when a record 1.65 million cruise passengers visited the state, lifted workers’ average wages in the Southeast region, the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

News

Wages for Alaska workers are up, but total jobs remain lower than pre-pandemic levels

The average hourly wage in Alaska was $33.60 in 2023, putting the state in 11th place among all…

A map shows projected population changes in Alaska between 2023 and 2050. (Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Research and Analysis Section)

News

Southeast Alaska’s population expected drop 17% by 2050, by far the most statewide

State expects to lose 15,000 residents, 12,000 of them from Southeast, according to report.

Pie charts published in the “Southeast Alaska by the Numbers 2024” report released Tuesday show jobs and earnings by industry in Southeast Alaska in 2023. Among the notable discrepancies are tourism with 18% of jobs and 13% of wages, while mining provided 2% of jobs and 5% of wages. (Rain Coast Data)

News

Study: Southeast tourism thrives, seafood suffers during record year in 2023 for both industries

Largest seafood harvest in a decade results in less income due to low prices, annual study finds.

A student exits the University of Alaska Anchorage consortium library on Friday. Alaska now has had 12 years of net outmigration, with more people leaving the state than moving in, contrary to past history when Alaska drew large numbers of young adults. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

News

With Alaska outmigration continuing, community members contemplate responses

Two-day meeting at UAA gave attendees from different sectors a chance to brainstorm solutions.

Meilani Schijvens (center), owner of Rain Coast Data, talks with attendees at a Juneau Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Thursday before presenting results from an annual economic survey by her company. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Survey: Optimism of Southeast Alaska businesses down this year, but still second-highest since 2010

Tourism leaders most optimistic in Juneau, seafood industry most pessimistic, annual report states.

Attendees at the Southeast Conference Mid-Session Summit listen to a live video speech by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall on Tuesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Report: Juneau second-best summer job place in U.S. for youths — in part because there are fewer of them

Update of annual Southeast Alaska economic report features other contrasting up-and-down trends

Brian Holst, executive director of the Juneau Economic Development Council, presents findings from JEDC’s annual economic indicators report during a Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce luncheon Thursday at the Juneau Moose Family Center. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Juneau’s aging population and low fertility rates raise concerns about declining future

Annual JEDC report also shows growing income gap, plus high housing and healthcare costs.

A chart shows the change in employment by community between 2021 and 2022. (Source: Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development)

News

Southeast Alaska gets first ‘A’ in annual economic report

Study finds strong rebound in region’s jobs and wages continuing into 2023

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire A gas pump at Petro One gas station off Egan Drive shows prices on Friday that, at about $4.90 a gallon for regular unleaded, are lower than peaks earlier this year but still far above the national average. The price of Alaska North Slope crude oil dropped to $74.22 a barrel on Wednesday, far below the $87 the state needs to average to break even for the fiscal year, however, consumers have cause for good cheer as nationwide gas prices are now cheaper than a year ago, dropping about one-third from their $5 a gallon average.

News

Oil hits lowest price of ’22 a week before state budget is due

$74.22 a barrel far below $87 break-even price for FY23; governor mum on how drop may affect FY24

A man shops at a supermarket on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, in New York. An inflation gauge that is closely tracked by the Federal Reserve, Friday, July 29, jumped 6.8% in June from a year ago, the biggest increase in four decades, and leaving Americans with no relief from surging costs. (AP Photo /Andres Kudacki)

News

Hints of cooling prices, but Fed vows firm inflation stance

The Fed appears ready to continue efforts to ensure prices are moving in the right direction

Hiring signs in the windows of businesses in downtown Juneau on Monday, April 18, 2022. Over a million passengers are expected to arrive aboard large cruise ships this summer, and local business say its been a challenge finding enough workers. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

News

Cruise ships are returning to Juneau, will seasonal workers?

Businesses cite disruption, housing in challenging hiring market.

fund

News

Study: PFD increases spending on kids among low-income families

More research needed.