The number of people applying for unemployment benefits in Arizona edged up one-tenth pf a percentage point from 7.0% in July to 7.1% in August. This is the third consecutive month of increase in unemployment rate, representing an increase of 39,500 people looking for work in the state, according to the Arizona Office of Employment and Population Statistics.
On the other hand, the U.S. seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of a percentage point from 6.2% in July to 6.1% in August. The four-week average of applications, a less volatile measure, fell 4,750 to 299,500, the Labor Department said Thursday. The total number of people collecting benefits during the first week of September was 2.43 million, the fewest since May 2007.
The number of people seeking benefits has been trending downward for the past four months, in part due to discouraged workers who have given up looking for a job. In August, both the unemployment rate (6.1 percent) and the number of unemployed persons (9.6 million) changed little. Over the year, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons were down by 1.1 percentage points and 1.7 million, respectively.
A year ago, the Arizona seasonally adjusted rate was 8.1% and the U.S. rate was 7.2%. Arizona added 39,500 Nonfarm jobs (1.6%) in August. These were primarily seasonal gains within Government (29,400 jobs) from Local Education (29,100 jobs). Total Nonfarm job gains were below the post-recession (‘09-‘13) average gain of 43,600 jobs and ten-year (’04-’13) average gain of 40,800 jobs. The Private Sector reported a gain of 10,100 jobs, below the post-recession (‘09-’13) average gain of 11,800 jobs and ten-year (’04-’13) average gain of 11,700 jobs.
Seven of the eleven major sectors reported job gains and four reported losses over the month. Government recorded the largest over-the-month gain with 29,400 jobs, slightly below the post recession (‘09-‘13) average gain of 31,800 jobs. Education and Health Services added 6,100 jobs. This was below the post-recession (‘09-‘13) average gain of 7,600 jobs. Other sectors to report job gains were Leisure and Hospitality (1,900 jobs), Professional and Business Services (1,800 jobs), Financial Activities (900 jobs), Construction (100 jobs), and Natural Resource and Mining (100 jobs). Sectors with reported losses include, Information (-300 jobs), Other Services (-200 jobs), Manufacturing (-200 jobs), and Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (-100 jobs).
Over the year, Arizona added 51,400 Nonfarm jobs (2.1%). The Private Sector gained 50,500 jobs (2.4%) and Government added only 900 jobs (0.2%) over the year. Nine of the eleven major sectors reported gains and two reported losses. Among the top gainers were Education and Health Services that added 17,800 jobs. The majority of these gains were in Health Care which has reported the highest over-the-year gains since December 2008. It was followed by Leisure and Hospitality (10,000 jobs), Financial Activities (8,400 jobs), and Trade, Transportation and Utilities (6,200 jobs). Other sectors with smaller gains include Other Services (2,300 jobs), Government (900 jobs), Manufacturing (400 jobs), and Natural Resources and Mining (100 jobs). Construction reported the fourth consecutive over-the-year loss of 6,600 jobs in August. Information shed 200 jobs.
In the Tucson metro area the unemployment rate remained the same month-over-month at 6.6% due to a drop of 5,076 in the labor force from July to August and 3,000 jobs added month over month: 2,100 were added in the private sector and 900 in Government positions.