By Roland Murphy and Rebekah Morris for AZBEX
Arizona’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 3.6% in February, down from 3.7% in January, according to the latest report published by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity.
The national rate decreased to 3.8% from 4.0%. In February 2021, the state had a seasonally adjusted rate of 6.0%, and the national was 6.2%.
The state had a net gain of 27,400 non-farm jobs over the month. “Historically (2012- 2021), nonfarm employment has recorded a gain of 22,800 jobs in February,” the report states. The private sector gained 22,500 jobs in January. Education & Health Services led gains with 5,800. Professional and Business Services was second with 5,200. Due to schools resuming activities after the holidays, Government came in third with 4,900. lower than the historical average of 10,600 for the month.
Natural Resources and Mining was unchanged. Information was the only sector to show a decrease in February, dropping by 800.
Construction gained 2,800 jobs for the month. Year-over-year, the sector showed a gain of 6,700.
All 11 sectors tracked posted year-over-year gains. Leisure & Hospitality led with 43,100 jobs from February 2021 to February 2022. Trade, Transportation & Utilities was second with 32,700. The two other top gaining fields were Education & Health Services with 11,800 and Professional and Business Services with 10,500.
Construction Employment
Statewide construction employment totals 181,100 jobs, which increased by 2,800 from February 2022 and 6,700 from February 2021.
The Arizona Construction sector features three major segments: Buildings, Heavy, and Specialty Trades. There are currently 36,900 jobs in Buildings, which is up 200 from January 2022 and up by 1,100 from February 2021. Heavy Construction added 300 over the month for a total of 19,900 and added 600 over the year. Specialty Trades added 2,300 over the month for a total of 124,000. The segment gained 5,000 over the year.
Construction jobs in the Phoenix Metro Area (Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale) added 2,200 over the month for a total of 140,700. The February 2021 number was 136,600. Metro Tucson construction jobs were up 100 for the month, totaling 18,000. The February 2021 number was 17,600.
Yuma, Flagstaff, Prescott, Lake Havasu City-Kingman and Sierra Vista-Douglas combine Construction and Natural Resources jobs in reporting their job sector totals. Yuma and Flagstaff were unchanged at 3,500 and 2,800, respectively. Prescott was up 200 to 6,900. Lake Havasu City-Kingman increased by 100 to 4,300. Sierra Vista-Douglas was unchanged at 2,000.
Construction employment has seen consistent growth, especially in the last six months, increasing by an average of 1,650 jobs/month. Year-over-Year growth is even more impressive in the last six months, averaging more than 3,600 jobs. Current levels of construction employment are at the highest level since 2008, when the state had 186,000 jobs in the industry, although the state is still nearly 25% lower than the peak level of construction employment achieved in 2006, when the total was 240,000.
Year-over-Year Arizona Change in Construction Employment. Credit: BEX Companies
