More than 300,000 jobs created in Arizona since 2015

According to a new employment report released by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), Arizona’s soaring economy elevated the jobs market in the state to create more than 300,000 new jobs since 2015.

Roughly 310,000 private sector jobs have been created in the last four years, and in the last year employment has increased by 75,000 jobs, which is a 2.6-percent boost. In the same time frame, labor force levels increased by more than 93,000 individuals.

“Arizona’s exceptional pro-business climate continues to bring more jobs, more companies and more opportunities to our state,” said Governor Ducey in a statement. “This success is possible thanks to the hard work of our employees, job creators and entrepreneurs. Arizona will continue to prioritize keeping taxes low, reducing red tape and developing our skilled workforce.”

One indicator that’s represented a strong economy over the years is a healthy jobs market. 

“Where we’re on the cusp is that historically we’ve been great at turning out jobs as far as numbers, but now we’re seeing higher wage jobs too,” notes Jim Rounds, an economic consultant in Phoenix. “Usually you see lower added value jobs pick up quickly, then businesses wait until they’re on a solid foundation to hire higher-paid jobs. You want to wait, but what we’ve seen is that there’s a lot of growth.”

Arizona is getting top marks in the entire nation when it comes to economic growth, coming in at fourth in the country for GDP growth. According to the report, Arizona also ranks third in the nation for economic momentum, fourth in population growth, and fifth for personal income growth. And with the relatively-still low cost of living, it’s fair to say people are sitting pretty.

“The forecast are for fairly strong growth and we have this momentum going. We won’t see dramatic slowing unless there’s a major hit in the overall economy,” adds Rounds.

Certain sectors will help provide more openings for annualized growth rate in the state. The construction industry, for instance, is expected to see the highest growth rate with 5.8 percent, followed by the manufacturing industry at 3.6 percent.