FINANCE
State's Economists Weigh in on 2020 Outlook Construction, oil & gas, transportation are bright spots; heathcare, retail experience challenges By Isaac Stone Simonelli
T
he cautious optimism with which economists approached Alaska’s 2019 economy turned out to be well-founded, with most experts indicating that the Last Frontier has turned the corner and in 2020 will claw its way out of the recession that followed tumbling oil prices several years ago. However, the recovery is not expected to be uniform, as Anchorage remains in recession and many of the impacts of the state’s budget cuts have yet to play out. 18 | January 2020
Oil & Gas Optimism “The most recent macro-economic indicators show Alaska’s economy has
begun to grow again and add jobs. In the near-term, there is concern over the effect of state government budget cuts,” Northrim Bank EVP, Chief Credit Officer, and Bank Economist Mark Edwards says. “However, there is renewed optimism in the private sector that a number of large-scale natural resource development projects are advancing and new discoveries of oil and gas are increasing investment activity for exploration and development.”
Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com
