By Roland Murphy for Arizona Builder’s Exchange
Arizona’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 4.9 percent in April to 4.7 percent, according to the latest report published by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity.
The national rate declined from 3.9 percent to 3.7. Twelve months ago, the state had a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.9 percent, and the national was at 4.3.
The state had a net loss of 7,200 non-farm jobs over the month. The private sector showed no gain or loss over the previous month. Five of the 11 sectors tracked showed gains, and five showed losses. Natural resources and mining was unchanged.
Construction in Arizona was up 2,500.
The Construction sector features three major segments: Buildings, Heavy, and Specialty Trades. There are currently 33,700 jobs in Buildings, up 1,000 from April and up 5,100 from May of 2017. Heavy Construction has gained 200 for the month with a total of 17,700, up 1,100 from May, 2017. Specialty Trades was up 1,300 for the month at 105,500, and the segment increased 6,900 over the year.
Construction jobs in the Phoenix Metro Area (Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale) increased 2,000 over the month, for a total of 123,500. The May 2017 number was 112,000.
In Metro Tucson construction job numbers decreased 200 to 16,500, an increase of 700 from May, 2017.
Yuma, Flagstaff, Prescott, Lake Havasu City-Kingman and Sierra Vista-Douglas combine Construction and Natural Resources jobs in reporting their job sector totals. Yuma was unchanged at 2,500. Flagstaff gained 100, up to 2,500. Prescott also increased 100 to 5,700. Lake Havasu City-Kingman remained at 3,100, and Sierra Vista-Douglas stayed the same with 1,500.