AK unemployment holds at 6.5 percent

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska's unemployment rate remained steady at 6.5 percent last month.

Federal labor statistics show that rate has held since August.

Unemployment stood at 6.7 percent in April 2018.

The state labor department says employment was up an estimated 0.9 percent from April 2018, with construction adding the largest number of jobs at 1,800.

Health care and oil and gas each added 500 jobs over the period while manufacturing had the biggest decline. The department says manufacturing in Alaska is mostly seafood processing.

The state labor department says there were 200 fewer federa...