Rural Alaska

Where the jobs will be: Mining, health care

The number of mining industry jobs in Alaska is expected to grow 19 percent by the end of the decade, state economists report.

The Department of Labor's latest issue of Trends magazine predicts the state will add 38,749 jobs between 2010 and 2020. The fastest growth is expected in health care work, with medical and social assistance jobs expected to expand by 31 percent. (Someone has to look after all the aging baby boomers.)

Mining jobs will be the second-fastest growing sector so long as mineral prices remain steady, writes economist Paul Martz. Several mining operations are expanding or are expected to grow in the near future, Martz said, including Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy, the Pogo Mine in the Interior and Red Dog Mine in Northwest Alaska.

No, there's no mention of Pebble in the report.

Oil and gas jobs are expected to make a full post-recession recovery, despite declining oil production:

High oil prices will also drive employment growth, with firms exploring or producing in marginal areas that could become economically viable at higher prices. But, all things considered, employment is projected to grow at less than half the rate of the overall economy.

By Kyle Hopkins

Anchorage Daily News

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins is special projects editor of the Anchorage Daily News. He was the lead reporter on the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Lawless" project and is part of an ongoing collaboration between the ADN and ProPublica's Local Reporting Network. He joined the ADN in 2004 and was also an editor and investigative reporter at KTUU-TV. Email khopkins@adn.com

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