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Kenai Peninsula’s unemployment rate rose again in 2017

Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District

The Kenai Peninsula unemployment rate rose by 1 percent in 2017. The Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District's end of the year report, which came out last week, found the unemployment rate was at 8.7 percent, up from 7.7 percent in 2016. Still, the increase is not as bad as the unemployment hike the borough saw from 2015-2016. The oil and gas industry lost the most jobs in the borough over the past five years with roughly 200 fewer jobs. 

The peninsula's unemployment rate is approximately 1 percent higher than the statewide average, but the borough is expected to gain 170 jobs in 2018. 

Renee joined KBBI in 2017 as a general assignment reporter and host. Her work has appeared on such shows as Weekend Edition Saturday, The World, Marketplace and Studio 360. Renee previously interned as a reporter for KPCC in Los Angeles and as a producer for Stateside at Michigan Radio. Her work has earned her numerous press club awards. She holds an M.S. in journalism from the University of Southern California and a B.A. in women's studies from the University of Michigan.