George W. Hammond, EBRC director and Eller research professor
State jobs rose 2,800 over the month in June after a small drop in May
Arizona seasonally-adjusted jobs rose by 2,800 over the month in June, after dropping a revised 400 in May. The May job change was revised up from a 3,300 loss in the preliminary estimate.
The state seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate ticked up by 0.1 percentage points to 3.5%. That was slightly below the U.S. rate in June of 3.6%. Arizona’s labor market remained very tight last month.
In June, Arizona’s modest job gains were driven by private education and health services (up 3,200), professional and business services (up 1,800), and other services (up 800). Those gains were partly offset by losses in leisure and hospitality (down 1,300), manufacturing (down 1,100), and information (down 800). Jobs in construction, trade, transportation and utilities, natural resources and mining, government and financial activities were roughly stable over the month.
Since February 2020, Arizona has added 163,500 jobs. Exhibit 1 shows how those gains were distributed across industries. Jobs in most sectors are far above their pre-pandemic high. However, natural resources and mining and other services were still close to their level nearly three-and-a half years ago, while jobs in information and government were below their pre-pandemic level.
Exhibit 1: Arizona Jobs by Industry, Change from February 2020 to June 2023, Seasonally Adjusted, Thousands
Exhibit 2 shows Arizona job recovery rates for state metropolitan statistical areas. Phoenix generated by far the most jobs of any metropolitan area in the state since April 2020, with an increase of 403,300. That rebound far exceeded the jobs lost from February to April 2020 of 245,200 and translated into a recovery rate of 164.5% as of June. The jobs recovery in Phoenix was followed by Lake Havasu-Kingman (144.1%), Yuma (134.4%), Prescott (128.6%), Flagstaff (108.6%), and Tucson (107.9%). Jobs in Sierra Vista-Douglas remained well below pre-pandemic levels.
Exhibit 2: Arizona Job Recovery Rates by Metropolitan Area, Seasonally Adjusted, Thousands
Arizona’s labor market remained very tight in June, with the unemployment rate just below the nation. Labor markets around the state were tight as well (Exhibit 3), with seasonally-adjusted unemployment rates in Arizona counties ranging from an estimated 2.8% in Greenlee County to 11.2% in Yuma County. Within the metropolitan counties, unemployment rates ranged from 3.3% in Maricopa to 11.2% in Yuma. Within the non-metropolitan counties unemployment rates ranged from 2.8% in Greenlee County to 7.5% in Apache County.
Exhibit 3: Arizona County Unemployment Rates in June 2023, Seasonally Adjusted by EBRC, Percent
