Arizona Jobs Market Shows Modest Growth in July

Arizona's employment situation improved in July, according to the Joint Economic Committee's State Employment Update. The state added 2,300 net payroll jobs and maintained an unemployment rate of 4.9 percent. Nationally, nonfarm payrolls fell by 23,000 in July.

Over the past 12 months, Arizona added 23,100 net payroll jobs and its unemployment rate rose by 0.6 percentage points from 4.3 percent. The state is tied for 11th in the nation for percentage gain in nonfarm payroll employment over this period.

The private sector in Arizona added 1,900 net private payroll jobs in July, with a total of 29,900 private payroll jobs added over the past 12 months. In contrast, overall employment in the state fell by 14,715 in July and by 108,851 over the past year.

The labor force participation rate in Arizona declined to 60.1 percent in July from 60.3 percent, ranking the state 37th in the nation. This decline represents a 2 percentage point drop over the past 12 months.