Decline in working-age population a growing challenge for Alaska

Though several industries in Alaska are shedding jobs, the ones that are hiring share a common problem: Not enough applicants.

“Our working-age population has had a pretty significant and consistent decline over the past decade,” said Dan Robinson, chief of research and analysis at the Alaska Department of Labor.

The working-age population (ages 15 to 64) dropped from 478,00 in 2015 to 449,200 in 2024, he reported at the Resource Development Council’s annual conference in Anchorage on Nov. 12.

He attributed the loss of working-age Alaskans to people aging out of the labor force, a declining bi...