by Valorie H. Rice
Senior Specialist, Business Information
Current data releases as of 20 April 2018
Arizona job growth was 2.5% in March compared to 1.6% for the nation. Education and health services was once again the sector with the most employment gains over-the-year in the state. This was followed by trade, transportation and utilities matched with construction. Information and government both lost jobs over the year. The unemployment rate for Arizona was unchanged at 4.9%. The April 19 Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity release reported over-the-year employment change for Arizona metros, ranked by growth: Prescott, 3.3%, Phoenix 3.2%, Lake Havasu City-Kingman 2.0%, Flagstaff 1.7%, Tucson 0.9%, Yuma -0.5%, and Sierra Vista-Douglas at -2.9%.
Arizona was among many states with stable unemployment rates for March according to the April 20 state employment and unemployment release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It was among a much smaller list of states—just 10 – with over 2.0% over-the-year job growth, not seasonally adjusted. Arizona, with 2.5%, was better than all but five states. Utah, Idaho, Washington, Nevada, and Colorado were the only ones with a higher percent growth.
The Census Bureau released 2016 County Business Patterns on April 19. Arizona had the second-highest percent increase in employment of all states at 3.7%, behind Florida at 5.0%. The number of establishments in the state has steadily rose since 2012 including the addition of 2,782 in 2016, an increase of 2.0%. An establishment is a single physical location where business is done or services or industry operations are done (businesses may have multiple establishments). The vast majority of establishments in the state have fewer than 50 employees. In fact, establishments with more than 250 employees made up less than 1% (0.8%) of the total in 2016, while 94.1% are those with less than 50 employees. Real estate and rental and leasing is the industry that added the most number of establishments in the state in 2016 and is also the most likely to have fewer than 50 employees per establishment. The industry adding the highest number of jobs was health care and social assistance. La Paz and Yavapai counties added the highest percent of employees over the year and Pinal, Coconino, and Maricopa added the highest percent of establishments.
Bankruptcy filings in Arizona jumped to 1,426 in March, though were still lower than March of last year when 1,495 filings were posted. The Phoenix office had a decrease in the number of bankruptcies compared to the same month a year ago, while both Tucson and Yuma offices had small increases. Year-to-date bankruptcies in the state are just 0.3% over the same period last year.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) was down 0.1% in March on a seasonally adjusted basis. The 4.9% decline in gasoline prices were the primary reason for the over-the-month decrease in the overall index. The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.2% for the month. The annual inflation rate was 2.4% in March according to the April 11 Bureau of Labor Statistics release.
Producer prices rose 0.3% in March, seasonally adjusted. Both final demand goods and final demand services were up 0.3%. The change in producer prices from 12 months ago, unadjusted, was 3.0%.
U.S. nonfarm payroll employment increased just 103,000 in March compared to 326,000 in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics April 6 Employment Situation report. The three-month average in employment increases was 202,000. Industries with the most employment gains for the month were manufacturing, health care, and mining. The unemployment rate for the nation remained at 4.1% for the sixth month in a row.
