PHOENIX  Arizona’s jobless rate jumped two tenths of a point last month, to 9.1 percent, as small gains in private sector employment were more than wiped out by losses in education.

And all indications are that the situation won’t get better any time soon.

Figures from the state Department of Commerce show only a few sectors of the economy where hiring continues.

One in particular is health care which added 1,700 jobs last month and 6,400 in the last year. Aruna Murthi, the agency’s director of economic analysis, said that growth is linked both to people moving to the state as well as winter visitors, particularly from Canada, who need care while they are here.

Retail trade employment was up by 2,000 between November and December. But much of that is expected given seasonal hiring by merchants.

More to the point, the figures also show that shoppers are hanging on to their dollars: Total retail employment in December was 15,000 less than a year earlier.

“We are experiencing a recession we have never seen before,’’ she said.

The same factors are in place in the tourism industry where total hotel employment was down by 800 between November and December  and off by 2,300 from a year earlier.

“The number of people traveling to Arizona has declined,’’ Murthi said. “People are spending less, saving more.’’

And the state’s construction industry lost another 2,300 jobs, bringing employment in that sector in December down to 131,800. That is just 53 percent of what it was at its peak in June 2006.

Murthi said there is no evidence that federal stimulus dollars have had any effect yet, with most of the projects not really scheduled to get underway until later this year.

And she said the outlook for residential construction remains bleak, with projections for relatively small growth in the number of permits for new homes.

So where are the bright spots?

Other than health care, the big one is the state’s aerospace industry which added another 200 jobs in December and 1,000 in the last year, bringing total employment up to 29,300. This includes companies like Raytheon which manufactures missiles in Tucson and Boeing’s helicopter operations in the Phoenix area, as well as various smaller firms that manufacture parts.

“Those are basically war-based industries,’’ said Leonard Heinrich, an economist with the agency.

Less clear is what happens to that sector if the United States stops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“You always have to have replacement of all the parts that are being worn down with our current war situation,’’ Heinrich explained.

“You’re using a lot of drones and other aerospace equipment,’’ he continued. “Those have to be replaced or repaired.’’

But Heinrich said even outside a war situation there’s still a need for aircraft, especially unmanned, to gather intelligence.

The declines in public sector employment come largely in education. But Heinrich said these were expected, coming largely in university and community college students giving up their part-time jobs at the schools just ahead of finals.

Seasonally adjusted          unemployment:

Area / Dec. 09 / Nov. 09 / Dec. 08

United States / 10.0% / 10.0% / 7.4%

Arizona / 9.1% / 8.9% / 6.6%

Phoenix metro+ / 8.4% / 8.4% / 6.2%

Cochise / 7.1% / 7.1% / 6.1%

Coconino / 8.2% / 8.3% / 5.9%

Gila / 11.0% / 10.5% / 7.7%

Graham / 13.5% / 13.9% / 8.5%

Greenlee / 14.9% / 17.0% / 8.8%

La Paz / 9.1% / 8.8% / 8.0%

Maricopa / 8.3% / 8.2% / 6.2%

Mohave / 9.8% / 9.8% / 10.8%

Navajo / 15.0% / 15.2% / 11.4%

Pima / 8.1% / 7.9% / 6.2%

Pinal / 11.7% / 11.8% / 8.8%

Santa Cruz / 15.2% / 14.7% / 12.3%

Yavapai / 9.3% / 9.3% / 7.3%

Yuma / 24.4% / 22.6% / 19.5%

+ Includes Maricopa and Pinal counties

— Source: Arizona Department of Commerce