Alaska Progress Report

Alaska's population increased 1.7 percent in 2011

From the Department of Labor: "Alaska’s statewide population increased by 1.7 percent – or 11,959 people – from April 2010 to July 2011, based on population estimates released today by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Alaska’s growth outpaced the United States as a whole, which grew 0.9 percent over the same period.

"Of Alaska’s 29 boroughs and census areas, 24 grew between the 2010 Census and the 2011 estimate. The largest population increases were in the Municipality of Anchorage (4,371), Matanuska-Susitna Borough (2,702), City and Borough of Juneau (1,015), Kenai Peninsula Borough (969) and Bethel Census Area (535).

"Among the state’s six economic regions, Anchorage/Mat-Su gained the most over the period (7,073) followed by Southeast (1,862), Gulf Coast (1,394), Southwest (964), Northern (520) and Interior (146).
A mix of natural increase – births minus deaths – and migration led to the population gains in Anchorage/Mat-Su, Interior, Gulf Coast and Southeast. Natural increase accounted for most of the growth in the Northern and Southwest regions."

2011 Alaska Health Care Commission identifies challenges, solutions

From the 2011 annual report of the Alaska Health Care Commission, three challenges (click through for solutions and next steps):

Health care cost increases in Alaska continue to outpace inflation.

• Health care spending in Alaska reached $7.5 billion in 2010, a 40% increase over 2005.
  State government’s portion of this bill was close to $2 billion.
• At current trends health care spending is expected to double to more than $14 billion by
  2020. By comparison the wellhead value of oil produced in Alaska in 2010 was $16.4
  billion and is projected to be $18.6 billion in 2020.
• Since 1982 the Anchorage Consumer Price Index increased 95%, while prices for medical
  care in Anchorage over that time period increased 320%.

Health care is increasingly unaffordable for our employers, families.

• At $11,926 per employee, Alaska has the highest average annual cost for employee health
  benefits in the nation - twice what employers in the lowest cost state pay.
• Fewer Alaskan employers are offering employee health benefits, dropping from 35% to 30% of small employers between 2003 and 2010.
• The average cost of health care premiums in Alaska increased 51% for single coverage and
  35% for family coverage between 2003 and 2010. The average annual commercial health
  insurance premium for family coverage in 2010 was $14,230.
• Despite the fact that Alaskans utilize roughly the same amount of care, health insurance
  premiums are about 30% higher here than in comparison states.

Health care prices paid in Alaska are much higher than in comparison states.

• Different payers (Medicare, Medicaid, Workers’ Compensation, commercial health insurers,
  TRICARE, and the Veterans Health Administration) pay different prices for the same service.
• The average reimbursement for physician services in Alaska is 60% higher than in
  comparison states for all payers combined – 69% higher for commercial health insurers.
• The difference in reimbursement for physician services varies depending on specialty. For
  example, Alaskan pediatricians are paid 43% more, while cardiologists are paid 83% more.
• Commercial health insurance reimbursement for private sector hospital services is 37%
  higher than in comparison states; Medicare pays our private sector hospitals 36% more.
• Alaska’s higher medical prices are due in part to higher operating costs for providers
  resulting from a higher cost of living, more costly employee benefits, transportation and
  shipping costs, fuel prices, and workforce shortages.
• Higher prices are also due to high physician pricing power compared to other states, and a
  high average operating profit margin for the private hospital sector.
• Low Medicare payment rates create upward pressure on prices for other payers.

December unemployment at 7.3 percent

From the Department of Labor: "Alaska’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged in December, at 7.3 percent. The comparable national jobless rate for December was 8.5 percent, down from 8.7 percent in November. Both rates were lower than a year ago, when the national unemployment rate was 9.4 percent and Alaska’s was 7.9 percent.

"Not seasonally adjusted unemployment rates increased in all six of the state’s regions, as they typically do in December. Rates were lower than December 2010 in four regions, about the same in the Northern Region, and noticeably higher in the Southwest Region. The largest increases in Southwest were in the Aleutians East Borough and in the Aleutians West and Wade Hampton census areas.

"Nineteen of 30 areas in the state had unemployment rates in the double digits, and fi ve of those exceeded 20 percent — not unusual for Alaska in the winter. Rates were highest in Skagway and the Aleutians East Borough, whose economies are tied to fi shing and tourism and/or suffer from a lack of year-round employment opportunities. The areas with the lowest rates tend to be the state’s larger communities, where seasonal employment is less pronounced.

"Wage and salary employment continued its typical seasonal decline in December, with job counts falling the most in construction and manufacturing, which is mostly seafood processing. Job numbers were below December 2010 levels, but the preliminary estimates are subject to potentially large revisions."

2010 Trooper reports spotlight rural sex crimes, alcohol abuse

The 2010 Annual Report for the Alaska State Troopers is out, and the historical data for the period 2006-2010 shows offenses have increased over the past few years in almost all of the ten categories tracked. Yet in almost every category the number of offenses in 2010 are still fewer than the high point earlier in the period tracked.

In sheer numbers assault is the leader with 3,775 offenses in 2010, significantly higher than any other year 2006-2009. Theft is the only other category to set a high-water mark in that period. Criminal mischief is the only category to decline 2009 to 2010. More disturbing is the unequal distribution of crimes. The Anchorage Daily News reports that the C detachment, which covers Western and Southwestern Alaska from Kotzebue to Kodiak to the Aleutians, has an extremely disproportionate share of offenses, especially in the areas of sexual assault and sexual abuse of a minor: about half of all offenses in each category statewide are recorded in C detachment's area of operations.

Alcohol, not surprisingly, is often a contributing factor, as the 2010 annual report of the Alaska Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Enforcement makes clear: "Of all cases initiated by the Alaska State Troopers in 2010, 37% involved drugs and/or alcohol. Of all violent crime cases, 61.9% involved drugs and/or alcohol... Alaska’s criminal justice professionals recognize that alcohol is the primary substance of abuse in Alaska and is the leading cause of violent, suicidal, and accidental deaths, especially in rural areas."

Alaska is third fastest growing state population

From the Census Bureau, news that "the nation's overall growth rate is now at its lowest point since before the baby  boom." Good or bad? Hey, we just report, you decide...

"Among states and equivalents, the District of Columbia experienced the fastest growth between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2011, as its population climbed 2.7 percent. This marks the first time it led states and equivalents in growth since the early 1940s. D.C. ranked 35th in percent growth between the 2000 and 2010 censuses.

"Following D.C. in terms of percent increase between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2011, were Texas (2.1 percent), Utah (1.9 percent), Alaska (1.8 percent), Colorado (1.7 percent) and North Dakota (1.7 percent). North Dakota was 37th in percent growth between the 2000 and 2010 censuses.

"The only three states to lose population between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2011, were Rhode Island (1,300 or -0.12 percent), Michigan (7,400 or -0.08 percent) and Maine (200 or -0.01 percent)."

Alaska tied for second-lowest poverty rate

It must be true, I read it in the American Community Survey (as reported by the Alaska Dispatch): "According to the survey, 9.9 percent of Alaska households fell below their respective poverty thresholds in 2010, putting the state in an effective statistical tie for second-lowest with Connecticut, Maryland, and New Jersey. New Hampshire's rate was found lowest, at 8.3 percent. Mississippi's was highest, at 22.4 percent."

More on poverty from the Alaska Economic Overview: "Alaska is a high-cost place to live, which can be especially challenging for those who have the least. To accommodate these high costs, federal poverty guidelines are 25 percent higher in Alaska than in the Lower 48. (Hawaii also has special poverty guidelines.) The guidelines are used to determine eligibility for a number of federal programs.

"In Alaska in 2010, a person was considered to be living in poverty if he or she earned up to $13,600 annually, or up to $27,940 for a family of four. For comparison, the average annual wage in the state was $47,700, as shown in the chart below. According to the 2010 American Community Survey, 9.9 percent of all individuals and 7.2 percent of families in Alaska were living at or below the poverty line."

Alaska lands more than half of nation's seafood

From the November 2011 Alaska Economic Trends: "Alaska produces a massive amount of seafood each year. The most recent data from the National Marine Fisheries Service show that in 2010, 53 percent of domestic harvested poundage came from Alaska — 4.35 billion pounds of product worth $1.6 billion. Dutch Harbor/Unalaska led the nation that year for pounds harvested, and in dollar value was second only to New Bedford, Mass.

"Harvesting employment was distributed among the following fisheries in 2010: salmon (50.2 percent), halibut (20.1 percent), groundfish (8.1 percent), sablefish (7.4 percent), crab (5.4 percent), herring (4.9 percent), and miscellaneous shellfish (3.9 percent). Average monthly fish harvesting employment has declined nearly every year since 2005 and in 2010, hit its lowest level since the data series was created. In 2010, there were 6,915 harvesters working each month on average, a decline of 2.4 percent from the previous year and down 7.6 percent from 2005."

Alaska's per capita GDP highest in nation

The October 2011 Alaska Economic Trends looks at our gross state product, a.k.a state gross domestic product (GDP). Alaska's GDP represents the value of all goods and services produced in the state, is a rough estimate of our state's economic health because it is so all-inclusive. In 2010 that number was $49 billion, 25 percent of it from oil, followed by the public sector (federal, state and local government) at 19 percent of GDP:

"At $63,424, Alaska’s per capita GDP is highest in the nation. Although there is typically a correlation between per capita income — for which Alaska is an important difference. While income data are for Alaska residents only, GDP measures the market value of goods and services produced in the state without differentiating between residents and nonresidents.

"For example, wages and salaries paid to people working in Alaska are part of the state’s GDP, regardless of where the workers live. Similarly, the profi ts — or in GDP terms, the 'net operating surplus' — of companies operating in Alaska are part of the state’s GDP, whether or not these profi ts stay in Alaska. Alaska’s high per capita GDP numbers show the state’s economy is especially productive relative to its population, but much of that is tied to the high value in recent years of Alaska’s commodities, especially oil and minerals."

Value of Alaska's fisheries underestimated, claims UFA

The United Fishermen of Alaska believes that the total value of Alaska's fisheries are routinely underestimated, and they have published a series of fact sheets to correct the record. According to UFA president Arni Thomson:

“The most commonly quoted number to gauge fishery economics, is ex-vessel value, the price paid to fishermen at the docks prior to the finfish and shellfish being processed. Quite often this value represents only fifty percent of the product value after it is processed, boxed and frozen. The value added processing (manufacturing) function then results in “the first wholesale value”, which approximates the export value of the product. At this point, it does not include the value of additional jobs and income for transportation, distribution, and wholesale and retail sales and restaurant sales. Alaska’s seafood exports are valued at $2.35 billion in 2010. This is important to all Alaskans in terms of tax revenue contributions. In fiscal year 2009, the industry contributed $79 million in state taxes and fees in addition to local fish taxes”

Alaska salmon harvest 3rd most valuable since 1975

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports on the 2011 Alaska commercial salmon harvest: "At $603 million, the 2011 harvest currently ranks as the third most valuable harvest since 1975, behind the 1988 and 2010 harvests respectively. Analysts expect the 2011 harvest will surpass the 2010 harvest in value, after final price per pound information is received next spring from processors, buyers, and direct marketers.

"While the 176 million salmon harvested in 2011—ninth largest since 1960—fell short of the 203 million predicted, high prices for all species, especially pink and chum salmon, pushed the value of the harvest to an extraordinary level. The pink salmon harvest, valued at over $170 million, set an all time record; chum salmon fetched $93 million, the third highest value ever recorded; sockeye salmon were worth almost $296 million, a respectable sixth place among historic sockeye harvests. Chinook and coho harvests, at $20 and $23 million, fell more toward the middle of their historic ranges.

"Regionally, Southeast Alaska took first place with the most valuable salmon harvest in the state, worth over $203 million: $92 million from pink salmon and $65 million from chum salmon. Bristol Bay, usually the most valuable salmon fishery in the state, came in second with a harvest worth $137 million, and Prince William Sound took third with a harvest worth $101 million, mostly from pink and sockeye salmon. Chignik and Cook Inlet also had unusually valuable fisheries, resulting from strong sockeye returns to those areas."