In another sign of Arizona’s booming economy, the Phoenix metropolitan area led the nation for new jobs created over the last year. In a report released today from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metropolitan statistical area (MSA) had the largest total nonfarm job growth of all large MSAs from May 2018 to May 2019.
The Phoenix metro area added 66,500 total nonfarm jobs year-over-year, representing 3.2 percent job growth — the largest of any MSA with a population over 1 million in the 2010 Census. Leading sectors for employment growth were Education and Health Services (17,200 jobs), Construction (15,100 jobs) and Professional and Business Services (12,800 jobs).
“Arizona is open for business and our economy is booming,” said Governor Doug Ducey. “It’s not by accident: Arizona’s pro-business policies, low taxes and light regulations are delivering more job opportunities and bigger paychecks for Arizona workers.”
Arizona’s economy continues to grow at one of the fastest rates in the nation, ranking fourth in the U.S. for GDP growth last year. Arizona also ranks second in the country for personal income growth, third for economic momentum and fourth for population growth.
More than 300,000 new jobs have been added since 2015 and Arizona is projected to add another 165,000 new jobs by 2020. Maricopa County, part of the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale MSA, also led the nation with the largest population increase of any county in the nation in 2018.
