Alaska July unemployment rate was 6.3 percent

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - State labor officials say Alaska’s unemployment rate for July was 6.3 percent.

The department said in a release that the rate is up three-tenths of a percentage point from the revised rate in June. The national unemployment rate for July was 7.4 percent.

Summer jobs helped keep unemployment rate low throughout Alaska. The lowest rates were in Bristol Bay and Skagway, at 1.1 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively.

Officials say both areas have small year-round populations, and each depends heavily on summer jobs. In Bristol Bay, that means fishing jobs while Skagway is dependent on tourism positions.