Arizona loses 33,000 jobs since last year


Published/Last Modified on Friday, July 18, 2008 3:08 PM MDT


PHOENIX — The number of people working in Arizona last month is 33,000 less than a year ago — the biggest year-over-year percentage decrease in six years.


New figures from the state Department of Commerce put the number of people working in June at 2,614,100. The decline put the state’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate at 4.8 percent.

By contrast, that same figure was 4.4 percent for May — and 3.6 percent in June 2007.

Arizona’s jobless rate was last at 4.8 percent nearly four years ago.

Last month’s figure for the Phoenix metro area, including Maricopa and Pinal counties was 4.3 percent, up from 3.8 percent in May and 3.1 percent a year earlier. For Pima County the rate went from 3.4 percent a year ago to 4.7 percent in June. Cochise County was at 3.9 percent a year ago, and at 5 percent in June.

Dennis Doby, the department’s senior director of research administration, pointed to a rising number of first-time unemployment claims — people just laid off. He said that number has been increasing all year.

Copyright © 2012 Douglas Dispatch

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