Arizona sees more summer job loss than usual
Jun 17, 2016, 2:33 PM
(AP Photo/Mike Groll)
(AP Photo/Mike Groll)
PHOENIX — The Arizona Department of Administration released numbers Thursday that show a higher than usual summer job loss of 19,400 in both public and private sectors.
This is a significantly higher than usual summer employment lull since the Great Recession.
Every year the state sees some loss of employment once May hits and tourism drops but typically the month only sees a loss of 3,700 jobs, over 15,000 less than what was seen this year.
The majority of the unemployment spike was in the government sector, where 13,100 jobs were lost.
This May the private sector lost 6,300 jobs which is historically unusual for the month in the years since the recession. Typically the private sector sees a small gain instead.
Seven out of 11 employment sectors experienced some level of job loss but one sector, natural resources and mining, was unaffected either way and three sectors gained jobs.
Those sectors were manufacturing, construction, and trade, and transportation and utilities.
The losses brought the state’s unemployment rate from 5.5 percent to 5.6 percent.
The Phoenix Business Journal contributed to this report.
