by Valorie H. Rice
Senior Specialist, Business Information
Real gross domestic product (GDP) by state increased at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 0.9% in Arizona for the first quarter 2017. The July 26 Bureau of Economic Analysis release ranked Texas as the state with the largest percent change with 3.9% while Nebraska with a decrease of 4.0% was last.
Real GDP grew at an annual rate of 2.6% in the second quarter based on the advance estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The July 28 release included the annual update of the national income and product accounts (NIPAs) covering 2014 through first quarter 2017. First quarter 2017 real GDP was revised slightly downward, at 1.2% (from 1.4%). Real GDP for 2016 was 1.5%, roughly the same as before the update, but 2014 and 2015 were revised upward to 2.6% and 2.9%, respectively.
The U.S. trade deficit was smaller in June at $43.6 billion compared to the revised May figure of $46.4 billion, according to the joint Bureau of Economic Analysis/Census Bureau report released August 4. Exports were $194.4 billion in June, $2.4 billion higher than May, while June imports were $0.4 billion less than the month before. Year-to-date, the deficit of goods and services was 10.7% larger than the same period last year.
Total nonfarm employment in the U.S. increased by 209,000 in July according to the August 4 Bureau of Labor Statistics release. Job increases have averaged 195,000 per month over the past three months. Industries gaining the most jobs in July were food services and drinking places, professional and business services, and health care. The unemployment rate was 4.3%.
The Arizona bankruptcy diet has reached a plateau. Filings had steadily been lower on a year-over-year basis each month for the last several years. This year, however, that has not always been the case. There were 1,286 bankruptcies filed in Arizona during July, a slight increase (2.7%) over the same time last year. The Phoenix office (Apache, Coconino, Gila, Maricopa, Navajo, and Yavapai) had 947 filings, the Tucson office (Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, Pinal, and Santa Cruz) had 282 and the Yuma office (La Paz, Mohave, and Yuma) was at 57. Year-to-date bankruptcies for the state are 0.8% more than the same period last year.
Phoenix home prices increased 5.7% over the year in May, slightly above the U.S. figure of 5.6%, according to the July 25 S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indices release. Seattle continued to have the highest year-over-year gain in home prices. At 13.3%, it was the only metro area with a double-digit increase.
Arizona job growth was 2.4% in June year-over-year. This was higher than the national growth of 1.5% for the month. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.1% according to the June employment report released by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity on July 20. Leisure and hospitality was the sector with the most over-the-year growth, followed by education and health services. Natural resources & mining, information and other services all lost jobs over the year. Over-the-year job growth was positive in all Arizona metro areas for June: Flagstaff 0.9%, Lake Havasu City-Kingman 1.7%, Phoenix 3.0%, Prescott 2.1%, Sierra Vista 1.5%, Tucson 0.5%, and Yuma 4.6%.
Hands and calculator photo courtesy Shutterstock.
