By Roland Murphy for Arizona Builder’s Exchange
Arizona’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dipped in July from at 4.7 percent to 4.6 percent, according to the latest report published by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity.
The national rate dropped from 4.0 to 3.9. Twelve months ago, the state had a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.7 percent, and the national was at 4.3.
The state had a net loss of 17,500 non-farm jobs over the month. With a gain of 800, Construction led the three of 11 sections tracked that showed gains. Manufacturing gained 700. Trade, Transportation & Utilities was up 500. Natural Resources & Mining was unchanged. All other sectors posted losses for the month. Government dropped the most, losing 13,100.
The Construction sector features three major segments: Buildings, Heavy, and Specialty Trades. There are currently 34,800 jobs in Buildings, down 500 from June and up 5,800 from June of 2017. Heavy Construction has lost 100 for the month with a total of 17,900, up 700 from July, 2017. Specialty Trades was up 1,400 for the month at 109,800, and the segment increased 8,300 over the year.
Construction jobs in the Phoenix Metro Area (Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale) increased 400 over the month, for a total of 128,300. The July 2017 number was 115,300.
In Metro Tucson construction job numbers were unchanged 17,100, an increase of 1,100 from July, 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 also stayed the same with 2,600. Prescott also 100 to 5,900, as did Lake Havasu City-Kingman was unchanged at 3,200, as was Sierra Vista-Douglas with 1,500.