The State Of Arizona’s August 2012 Unemployment Rate Unchanged (8.3%)

Arizona’s employment numbers have been published for August 2012. The State’s August unemployment rate remained static at 8.3%. There were approximately 250,000 unemployed workers in Arizona in for the month. This is an increase of approximately 900 individuals over July. The number of employed in the State also fell in August by about 3,300 individuals to approximately 2.75 million. However, this number was mainly offset by a subsequent fall of 2,400 in the total civilian workforce. Taken collectively, these statistics result in the constant unemployment rate for AZ in August 2012.

A year ago in August 2011 the Arizona unemployment rate was at 9.5%. The impact of the big rate reduction over the past year was around 37,500 less unemployed people in Arizona. Additionally, there are about 19,000 more workers employed in the state from 2011 to 2012. Also, while the recent trend for many states in the country has been higher recently, Arizona’s unemployment rate has largely dropped for all of 2012 (with just a few exceptions). In comparison to the national average Arizona’s August 8.3% rate is just moderately (0.2%) over the U.S. average.

The business type employment numbers are another way to review the employment results for Arizona. In August, these statistics were predominantly unfavorable. Among those down in August were Leisure & Hospitality, Mining & Logging, Construction, Manufacturing, Education & Health Services, and Government. Those that did experience up numbers were Trade Transportation & Utilities, Financial Activities, and Professional & Business Services. The AZ business type with the greatest (percentage) gain over the past 12 months was Construction (+6.7%). The Arizona business sector with the largest 12 month decline was Other Services (-1.8%). The business type with the most employed continues to be Trade Transportation and Utilities with about 485,400.

When compared to other States in the area, Arizona’s August 2012 unemployment rate continues to be average. Higher than Arizona are the States of California (10.6%) and Nevada (12.1%). State’s with lower rates include Colorado (8.2%), New Mexico (6.5%), Utah (5.8%), and Wyoming (5.7%).

When the employment numbers for Arizona for September 2012 are reported later this year we’ll review the results and look at the trends for the State. Please understand that previously released employment statistics might be modified in the future.

State Of Arizona’s Unemployment Rate Up In July – At 8.3%

The U.S Department of Labor has published the state employment numbers for July 2012. The State of Arizona’s unemployment rate went up 0.1% in July 2012 to 8.3%. This is the first monthly increase for Arizona in 2012. When compared to June, there are about 2,600 more unemployed individuals in Arizona. Additionally, there are roughly 12,000 fewer employed individuals and about 9,000 fewer individuals in the civilian workforce in Arizona in July. When combined, these statistics resulted in the 0.1% increase in AZ’s unemployment rate for the month. AZ’s unemployment rate continues to match the U.S. average rate of 8.3%.

When compared to 2011 AZ’s unemployment rate is still much better than the July 2011 rate of 9.6%. This big improvement in the unemployment rate is apparent when look at the detailed employment statistics. There are almost 41,000 fewer unemployed workers in Arizona over the past year. There are also about 22,000 more people employed in AZ and a decrease of 19,000 in the overall civilian workforce over that time. Together, this caused the big 1.3% decrease in the AZ unemployment rate over the past year.

Employment statistics are also published for the significant industries. When we review these numbers we see that many of AZ’s industries did experience employment gains for the month. Some of these business sectors included Trade Transportation and Utilities, Information, Construction, Manufacturing, and Financial Activities. A few business sectors, however, did decrease in July including Professional and Business Services and Government.

Another detail look at AZ’s employment review is from employment numbers for AZ’s larger metro areas. Many of the cities in Arizona saw their unemployment rates rise in July. The City of Flagstaff rose from 8.3% in June to to 8.7% in July. Also up was the Lake Havasu City-Kingman Area rising to 9.7% (from 9.6% in June). The major metropolitan area of Phoenix was also up rising 0.1% to 7.5% in July. The lone exception was the City of Prescott’s who’s unemployment rate remained flat for July at 8.8%. On the (very) high-side was the City of Yuma. Their unemployment rate went over 30% for the first time in nearly a year with a July 2012 rate of 31.2% (one of the highest in the U.S.).

Next we’ll compare Arizona’s unemployment rate to other states in the Southwest. In the region Arizona’s July 2012 unemployment rate continues to be in the middle. States with higher unemployment rates than AZ are California (10.7%) and Nevada (12.0%). Regional states that have lower unemployment rates in July are New Mexico (6.6%) and Utah (6.0%).

Next month we’ll review the August 2012 employment numbers for Arizona. Remember that previously released employment numbers may be adjusted at a later date.

Unemployment Numbers for AZ for April, 2012

The Arizona April 2012 unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) for the State of Arizona has been released at 8.2%.  This is an improvement from the March rate of 8.6% and accelerates the slowly improving unemployment rate since the start of the year.  The April 8.2% rate is the lowest in Arizona since December of 2008 when the unemployment rate was at 8.0%.

From a year ago the rate has dropped 1.4% from 9.5%.  The overall civilian labor force is down again in April for the state.  This can confuse the numbers as it can often means some unemployed workers have stopped looking for work  – or left the state entirely.  Because of this, even though there are less unemployed people than a year ago there are still fewer people employed in AZ than in April of 2011..

Several Arizona industries had a boost in their April 2012 rates compared to April 2011, including Mining and Logging, Leisure and Hospitality, Education and Health Services, and especially Construction (a 7.8% change in the past year).  The “Other Services” category had a decline of 2.6%.

The cities of Phoenix, Flagstaff,  Prescott, and Tucson have better than state average rates for the month.  Areas that have higher than average rates include Yuma and Lake Havas.  Phoenix and Tucson both have the best metro area rates at 6.6%.  Yuma has (by far) the worst metro area irate n Arizona with a very high 26%.  Like many other states and the rest of the country, 2012 has seen most areas have a gradual improvement (Yuma being the exception here).

When we compare Arizona to the United States the rate is nearly identical to the national average for April 2012 at 8.1%   Both Arizona and the nation are experiencing the same downward trend in rates for 2012 (the US was 8.3% in January 2012).

In comparison to other states in the area Arizona’s April rate of 8.2% is in the middle.  Utah has a much better rate at just 6% as does Colorado at 7.9% and New Mexico at 6.9%.  However California’s rate of 10.9% and Nevada’s 11.7 % are significantly higher than Arizona.

We’ll revisit the Arizona unemployment numbers and trends again when the May 2012 numbers are published.  We’ll see if AZ continues to improve in 2012, and compare to other states in the region and well as review cities and industries.  Note that previously released unemployment numbers can be adjusted later, so please be aware that the information in this article above is subject to change.