By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
Arizona’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 3.4% in August, according to the latest report published by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity.
The national unemployment rate dropped to 4.2%, down from 4.3% in July. Last August, Arizona had a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.1%. The national rate was 3.8%.
The Arizona Construction sector dropped 200 jobs over the month.
Arizona had a not-seasonally adjusted gain of 43,600 in nonfarm employment jobs month-over-month. “Prior to the pandemic (2010-2019), NSA nonfarm employment gained 54,000 jobs on average in August,” the report states.
The private sector gained 17,400 jobs over the month, led by Private Educational Services adding 7,500 and Leisure & Hospitality adding 6,700. Government gained 26,200, mostly in the Local Government Education subsector, which accounted for 24,800.
Of the 12 sectors tracked, seven reported gains over the month. The top two sectors showing increases were Governmentand Private Educational Services. Manufacturing led the declining sectors with a decrease of 1,700 jobs. With 200 fewer jobs reported, Construction lost the fewest jobs among the sectors with losses.
Year-over-year, 10 of the 12 sectors reported gains, including Construction’s addition of 5,700 jobs and Natural Resources & Mining’s increase of 1,000. The greatest increases were reported in Health Care and Social Assistance at 24,000 jobs. The two sectors showing losses were Manufacturing, down 2,500, and Information, down 1,800.
Construction Employment
Statewide construction employment totals 217,800 jobs. In August 2023, the sector reported 212,100.
The Arizona Construction sector features three major segments: Buildings, Heavy, and Specialty Trades. There are currently 48,600 jobs in Buildings, which is down 200 from July and up 4,100 from August 2023. Heavy Construction was unchanged over the month at 25,100 but added 600 over the year. Specialty Trades dropped by 1,000 over the month for a total of 144,100, and the segment added 1,000 year-over-year.
Construction jobs in the Phoenix Metro Area (Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale) dropped 100 over the month for a total of 171,500. The August 2023 number was 169,000. Metro Tucson was down by 200 construction jobs over the month at 20,900, which is an increase of 500 year-over-year.
Yuma, Flagstaff, Prescott, Lake Havasu City-Kingman and Sierra Vista-Douglas combine Mining and Construction jobs in reporting their job sector totals. All the metro areas were unchanged for the month. Yuma reported 3,800. Flagstaff had 3,100. There were 7,200 in Prescott and Lake Havasu City-Kingman had 4,700 construction jobs. Mining and Construction employment in Sierra Vista-Douglas totaled 2,100.