Arizona added just 2,200 jobs over the month in February.

Arizona added 2,200 jobs over the month in February on a seasonally-adjusted basis. January job gains were revised down from 10,900 in the preliminary data to 7,200 in the latest release.  Arizona’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1% in February (from 4.2% in January), close to the national rate of 3.9%.

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Arizona’s February job gains were distributed across professional and business services (up 2,000), government (up 1,400), private education and health services (up 1,000), other services (up 600), financial activities (up 500), and natural resources and mining (up 100). Job gains were partly offset by losses in construction (down 1,600), trade, transportation, and utilities (down 1,000), information (down 500), and manufacturing (down 300). Jobs were stable in leisure and hospitality.

Over the year, Arizona jobs were up 65,900 (non-seasonally adjusted), which translated into 2.1% growth. That was above the U.S. pace of 1.8%. Exhibit 1 shows net job growth over the year for Arizona’s major industries. Job gains were strongest in private education and health services; trade, transportation, and utilities; government; and construction. The weakest performance was in information; leisure and hospitality; manufacturing; and financial activities.

Exhibit 1: Arizona Net Job Change (Thous.) and 2022 Annual Wages per Worker

The Phoenix MSA (Maricopa and Pinal counties) added 52,700 jobs over the year in February, for 2.2% growth. Similar to the state, private education and health services; government; trade, transportation, and utilities; and construction drove gains (Exhibit 2). Performance was weak in information; leisure and hospitality; manufacturing; and financial activities.

Exhibit 2: Phoenix MSA Net Job Change (Thous.) and 2022 Annual Wages per Worker

The Tucson MSA added 2,900 jobs over the year for 0.7% growth. Gains were driven by private education and health services; manufacturing; construction; and trade, transportation, and utilities (Exhibit 3). Leisure and hospitality; professional and business services; information; and other services lost jobs.

Exhibit 3: Tucson MSA Net Job Change (Thous.) and 2022 Annual Wages per Worker

The Prescott MSA added 900 jobs over the year in February, which translated into 1.3% growth. Gains were driven by government; trade, transportation, and utilities; professional and business services; and mining and construction (Exhibit 4). Performance was weak in leisure and hospitality and manufacturing.

Exhibit 4: Prescott MSA Net Job Change and 2022 Annual Wages per Worker

Author: George W. Hammond, Ph.D., is the director and research professor at the Economic and Business Research Center (EBRC).