by Valorie H. Rice Senior Specialist, Business Information
Current Data Releases as of 15 March 2019
Arizona employment rose 2.8% over-the-year in January (not seasonally adjusted) compared to 2.0% nationally. The Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity released January job numbers on March 7 along with revisions for the last two years. Arizona nonfarm employment figures for 2017 and 2018 were both revised up, with a total increase of 4,800 jobs or 0.2% for 2017 and 5,600 (0.2%) for 2018. All sectors reported over-the-year job growth in January with education and health services adding the most jobs at 19,400 followed by construction at 15,800. Government and information were on the other end of the scale, adding just 700 and 200 jobs, respectively. Over-the-year job growth in Arizona metro areas for January (not seasonally adjusted): Lake Havasu City-Kingman 3.4%, Phoenix 3.1%, Flagstaff 2.8%, Prescott 2.3%, Yuma 1.9%, Sierra Vista-Douglas 1.8%, and Tucson 1.6% (not seasonally adjusted). The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Arizona increased to 5.1% in January. More employment numbers…
The U.S. trade deficit surged to $59.8 billion in December compared to $50.3 billion in November, which was revised upward from original figure. Imports rose 2.1% in December to $264.9 billion. Exports decreased $3.9 billion over-the-month to $205.1 billion. Year-to-date, the deficit of goods and services was 12.5% larger than the same period in 2017 according to the March 6 joint release from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and U.S. Census Bureau.
U.S. employment increased only 20,000 in February on a seasonally adjusted basis. The revised estimate for January total nonfarm payroll employment was an increase of 311,000 according to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics March 8 release. Sectors increasing jobs in February were professional and business services, health care, and wholesale trade while construction lost jobs for the month. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.8% in February.
Bankruptcy filings in Arizona reached 994 in February, an increase of 5.7% over the same month last year, but lower than the 1,178 filed in January. Year-to-date, bankruptcies grew 14.0% with the Phoenix office increasing 18.4%, the Tucson office increasing just 2.8% and the Yuma office up 4.5%. The Phoenix office includes Apache, Coconino, Gila, Maricopa, Navajo, and Yavapai counties. The Tucson office handles Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, Pinal, and Santa Cruz counties, while the Yuma office represents La Paz, Mohave, and Yuma counties. All Arizona bankruptcy numbers…
The Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) rose 0.2% in February, seasonally adjusted. The food index had its highest monthly increase since 2014 at 0.4%, rising for both for food at home and food away from home. Gasoline prices were up once again after decreasing the previous three months. The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.1% for the month according to the March 12 Bureau of Labor Statistics release. The annual inflation rate in February was 1.5%.
Producer prices crept up 0.1% for February on a seasonally adjusted basis after falling for the previous two months. Final demand goods were up 0.4% while final demand services were flat for the month. The 12-month change for the final demand index, unadjusted, was 1.9% according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics March 13 release.
