by Valorie H. Rice
Senior Specialist, Business Information
Current data releases as of 8 June 2018
There were 1,486 bankruptcy filings in Arizona during May, an increase of 9.3% over May of last year. Year-to-date bankruptcies in the state are 2.8% over the same period last year, increasing 1.0% for the Phoenix office and 8.7% for the Tucson office while decreasing 0.7% for the Yuma office. The Phoenix office handles Apache, Coconino, Gila, Maricopa, Navajo and Yavapai counties. Tucson office covers Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, Pinal and Santa Cruz counties. La Paz, Mohave, and Yuma counties report to the Yuma office.
The U.S. trade deficit decreased in April to $46.2 billion, from $47.2 billion in March (revised). Exports increased 0.3% to $211.2 billion while imports down 0.2% to $257.4 billion. The year-to-date deficit of goods and services was $20.8 billion over the same period a year ago according to the June 6 joint release from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and Census Bureau.
U.S. real GDP grew at an annual rate of 2.2% in the first quarter of 2018 according to the revised estimate released May 30 by the Bureau of Economic Analysis based on more complete source data. Real GDP increased 2.9% in the fourth quarter 2017.
The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index for March indicated that the one-year change in Phoenix house prices was 6.8%, the same as the 20-city composite. This was higher than the national increase of 6.5%. Seattle (13.0%), Las Vegas (12.4%) and San Francisco (11.3%) remained the cities with the largest increase in house prices according to the May 30 release.
U.S. nonfarm payroll employment increased 223,000 in May according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics June 4 Employment Situation report. Industries with the most employment gains for the month were health care, retail trade and construction. Employment increases averaged 179,000 over the last three months after revisions to the March and April data. The unemployment rate for the nation inched down to 3.8% in May from 3.9% in April.
Buckeye, Arizona was the fifth fastest-growing city in the nation in 2017 according to the Census Bureau’s May 24 population estimates for cities and towns. Three out of the top five fastest-growing cities were from Texas (Frisco, New Braunfels and Pflugerville). San Antonio was the city adding the most number of people over the year, followed by Phoenix, Dallas, and Fort Worth. Phoenix retained its spot as the fifth-largest city in the nation behind New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston.
Home prices in Arizona rose 9.5% between the first quarter 2017 and first quarter 2018 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency report released May 24. This placed Arizona in the top ten states for price appreciation, where it was seventh. Nevada had the highest appreciation over the year at 13.7%. The U.S. price increase was 6.9%. The report includes metropolitan area price data that includes both purchases and refinance mortgages. House price changes for Arizona metropolitan areas by one-year increase: Lake Havasu City-Kingman (11.7%), Phoenix (9.3%), Tucson (7.9%), Prescott (7.4%), Yuma (6.0%), Flagstaff (5.4%), and Sierra Vista-Douglas (2.3%).
Employment increased in 316 of the 346 largest counties in the United States between December 2016 and December 2017 according to the fourth quarter 2017 County Employment and Wages (QCEW) May 23 release from BLS. The U.S. average weekly wage increased 3.9% over the year in 2017. Both Maricopa and Pima counties followed the national trend – increasing 3.0% and 1.0% respectively in employment, and 2.9% and 3.8% respectively in wages.
Per pupil spending for public elementary-secondary education in the U.S. increased by 3.2% to $11,762 during the 2016 fiscal year according to data released by the Census Bureau on May 21. Arizona’s per pupil spending increased 1.6% to $7,613 and ranked nearly last among all states, with only Idaho and Utah spending less. Arizona ranked last in spending for school administration ($364 compared to $651 nationally). Within public school systems, Arizona was among the states receiving the highest percentage of their revenues from the federal government – Mississippi (14.6%), Arizona (13.8%), South Dakota (13.5%), New Mexico (13.5%), and Montana (12.4%).
