By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
Continuing what has been the trend for most of the past several months, the Arizona Construction sector lost 1,100 jobs in November, according to the latest report published by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 4.3%.
The national unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, up from 4.4% in September. In November 2024, Arizona had a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.9%. The national rate was 4.2%.
Editor’s Note: Due to the government shutdown, an employment report was not issued for the month of October.
Arizona had a not-seasonally adjusted increase of 17,500 nonfarm employment jobs month-over-month. “Prior to the pandemic (2010-2019), NSA nonfarm employment gained 28,800 jobs on average in November,” the report states.
Year-over-year results showed a seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment increase of 21,300 people, or 0.6%.
The private sector gained 15,100 jobs, led by Trade, Transportation & Utilities, up 10,600 jobs, and Professional & Business Services, which gained 1,600. Government was the sector with the second-greatest gains, adding 2,400, 2,200 of which were in Local Government Education.
Of the 12 sectors tracked, eight reported increases. Financial Activities led declining sectors, dropping 1,200, and was followed by Construction’s loss of 1,100.
Health Care and Social Assistance was unchanged.
Year-over-year, nine of the 12 sectors reported gains, led by an addition of 14,500 in Health Care and Social Assistance. Construction was fourth with 2,100.
The sectors with losses were led by Trade, Transportation & Utilities’ decline of 6,700.
Construction Employment
Statewide construction employment totals 226,400 jobs. In November 2024, the sector reported 224,300.
The Arizona Construction sector features three major segments: Buildings, Heavy, and Specialty Trades. There are currently 56,200 jobs in Buildings, which is down 700 from October and up 5,000 from November 2024. Heavy Construction lost 500 for the month at 25,200 and was down 1,000 for the year. Specialty Trades shed 1,300 over the month for a total of 145,000, and the segment lost 1,900 year-over-year.
Construction jobs in the Phoenix Metro Area (Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale) fell by 1,700 over the month for a total of 181,000. The November 2024 number was 180,200. Metro Tucson lost 300 in the month to hit 19,900, which is a loss of 700 year over year.
Yuma, Flagstaff, Prescott-Prescott Valley, Lake Havasu City-Kingman and Sierra Vista-Douglas combine Mining and Construction jobs in reporting their job sector totals. These areas were all unchanged for the month, except for Sierra Vista-Douglas, which lost 100 to end at 2,100. Yuma reported 4,100; Flagstaff had 3,200; Prescott-Prescott Valley had 7,300, and Lake Havasu City-Kingman reported 4,700.