Recession hurts tourism , construction work , freight operations in Alaska . State 's unemployment rate is 8.4 percent , up from 6.7 percent a year ago . Alaska is often isolated from national trends because its economy is so different . `` Alaska tends to trail the rest of the United States when it comes to the economy . It has no major ports or airports and relies on the oil industry for most of its revenue.
Recession hurts tourism , construction work , freight operations in Alaska . State 's unemployment rate is 8.4 percent , up from 6.7 percent a year ago . Alaska is often isolated from national trends because its economy is so different . It has no major ports or airports and relies on the oil industry for most of its revenue.