State economist offers rosy but cloudy forecast for Anchorage (2013, places)

[Moose Whisperer]

State economist Neal Fried gave his 2013 economic forecast to a packed room of Anchorage Chamber of Commerce members at the Dena’ina Center Monday afternoon.

He characterized Anchorage’s economy as having “almost 24 years of interrupted growth.” Although the city lost around 900 jobs in 2009, they were recovered the next year, and in both 2011 and 2012, Anchorage’s economy saw a record number of jobs. That's starkly different than much of the U.S., which, although recovering from the recent recession, is still “way under water,” he said.

“There are very few states and places where they can actually say they have as many jobs as they used to, and very few that can say they have more jobs now than they ever had,” Fried said. “We are in a very, very different place. We don’t talk about recovery here.”

If Anchorage had also slid into recession, it would have lost about 11,000 jobs, he said. But instead, Anchorage continues growing. Last year was good for the city, with 2,000 jobs added. That’s double the number Fried had predicted, he pointed out.

State economist gives 2013 economic forecast for Anchorage | Alaska Dispatch