A report released from CNBC lists Alaska as the second-worst state for business in 2011.
That's one spot higher from last year, when Alaska ranked dead last, according to the CNBC figures, which have been recorded for the past five years.
CNBC looked at several business factors in making their determinations, and judged Alaska to be among the bottom of states in the union in the categories of "cost of doing business," "quality and availability of workforce" and "technology and innovation" among other categories.
Last year, CNBC Senior Correspondent Scott Cohn came to Alaska to discuss the even worse 2010 results.
"Capital is looking for a place to go," said Cohn. "People are looking for investment opportunities. That's something that may be an opportunity for Alaska," Cohn said.
But state labor economist Neil Fried says he wouldn't put so much stock in the report. He says he wonders about how the researchers weight the various categories (CNBC says it weights the individual categories based on how frequently the factors show up in economic reports).
Fried also says the near-bottom ranking may not mean so much in Alaska because the state doesn't compete for certain projects and businesses like some states in the lower 48 would.
Fried says the near bottom ranking may not mean much because Alaska doesn't compete for certain projects and businesses like states in the continental U.S. would.
We're usually not in that sort of business, because of our location," said Fried. "We're not usually competing with the rest of the states in that sense, though we do compete in other things."
The number one ranked state in the study was Virginia, with CNBC saying that state is doing the best with attracting jobs.
In the individual category of "Economy," Alaska actually ranked third in the nation -- a huge jump from last year. But that one statistic couldn't combat the state's other factors cited in the report.
