{"id":73,"date":"2026-05-14T17:36:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T17:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtoalaskausa.com\/?p=73"},"modified":"2026-05-14T17:36:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T17:36:24","slug":"alaskans-are-more-pessimistic-about-the-states-economy-now-than-they-were-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtoalaskausa.com\/?p=73","title":{"rendered":"Alaskans are more pessimistic about the state\u2019s economy now than they were in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

New statewide polling shows Alaskans have near-record negative views of the state\u2019s economy, with opinions more pessimistic than they were during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic emergency.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Judge considers request to halt controversial bear cull in Western Alaska<\/a><\/p>\n

Those views, which mirror national trends, were <\/span>published this week by Alaska Survey Research and analyst Ivan Moore<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

On a scale of 0-100, Alaskans give the state economy a score of 42.6, two-tenths of a point above a record low recorded in fall 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moore has been asking Alaskans the same six economic questions regularly since spring 2010.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI wish that we were living up right now to the old adage that how the economy goes in the United States, we do the reverse,\u201d he said on Thursday when asked about the results.<\/span><\/p>\n

The survey\u2019s score peaked in 2014, when Alaska oil prices were near record highs, government spending was up and the Permanent Fund dividend was large.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

When oil prices plunged in 2014 and 2015, so did public opinion. Opinions rebounded in late 2017 and early 2018 but tumbled again during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, then fell again when inflation spiked after the emergency ended.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the 3.5 years since, even though Covid is reasonably a thing of the past, and the inflation rate is back to normal, the index has not recovered,\u201d Moore wrote in his latest analysis. \u201cAlaskans are as pessimistic about economic conditions in Alaska today as they were in the depths of the worst winter Covid months.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking by phone, he said that \u201ceven though the inflation rate is back to normal, it doesn\u2019t mean that things aren\u2019t still shockingly expensive. The war in Iran is creating uncertainty. The price of gas has gone through the roof.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

National surveys report similar findings. Last month, the University of Michigan \u2014 which measures American consumer sentiment monthly \u2014 <\/span>reported results on par with 2022<\/span>, when opinions were at their lowest in decades.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Alaska Legislature approves standardized disaster-evacuation scale for statewide use<\/a><\/p>\n

Moore isn\u2019t the only person who\u2019s finding low opinions among Alaskans about the economy.<\/span><\/p>\n

At Dittman Research, Matt Larkin regularly polls state residents on behalf of the Alaska Chamber of Commerce and other clients.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been doing this 15 years,\u201d Larkin said. \u201cIn my opinion, I\u2019ve not seen the economic concern worse than it is now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s survey, conducted in March, found 60% of respondents saying Alaska\u2019s economy was either pretty bad or \u201cnot too good.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That was an increase of eight percentage points from 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two-thirds of respondents said the state of Alaska is on the wrong track, continuing a streak that began in March 2016. The last time more Alaskans said the state was headed in the right direction than the wrong direction was in January 2015.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Larkin also said that his survey found that many Alaskans were likely to believe that even if economic conditions improve, the improvements would not benefit them personally.<\/span><\/p>\n

While both Moore and Larkin said their polls are a good barometer to check on public opinion, they also said that the results may be an indicator for this fall\u2019s election campaigns.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt strikes me that, with all the political races this year, I think the candidates that can best understand and appear to be offering real solutions are going to likely do well in that environment,\u201d Larkin said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s the challenge for all these campaigns: How do they speak to a voter base that\u2019s very, very down right now about the economic prospects for their personal lives, but also the state in general?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Alaska Senate committee floats \u2018mini-bus\u2019 education bill aimed at one-time funding, policy changes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Views on the state\u2019s economy are extremely dour ahead of the 2026 election season, two leading surveyors find.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nAlaskans are more pessimistic about the state\u2019s economy now than they were in 2020 - Moving to Alaska<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingtoalaskausa.com\/?p=73\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alaskans are more pessimistic about the state\u2019s economy now than they were in 2020 - 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