The Prudhoe Bay oil discovery in the 1960s changed Alaska’s economy significantly. The state’s oil production dominates the economy. In 1961, summer jobs in fishing and construction made up the majority of Alaska’s private jobs, with 66% higher employment in the summers. Jobs are now year-round, resulting in a more stable state economy. From 1961 to 2003, Alaska’s employment grew from 94,000 to 320,000. A third of Alaska’s jobs—127,000 in 2007—were oil-related and depended on oil production. The state’s population is triple what it was in 1960, up from 226,000 to 710,000 in 2010, according to a 2011 report by the University of Alaska’s Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER).
