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Arizona job market hardest hit by recession
Volunteer Charlene Newman works the desk between helping job seekers at a Goodwill Job Center in Chandler. Oct. 27, 2009.
Thomas Boggan, Tribune
No state has lost a higher proportion of jobs in this recession than Arizona, says a new study by the Economic Policy Institute.
Arizona has lost 9.9 percent of its jobs - about 265,000 - since the recession began in December 2007, said the institute, which cited U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
The biggest job loss has been in the state's construction sector, which since peaking in June 2006 has shed 111,200 jobs - 45 percent - through October, according to figures from the Arizona Department of Commerce.
Other states have much higher raw numbers of overall job losses, the Economic Policy Institute said. California, for instance, has lost almost 1 million jobs in this recession, but that amounts to 6.5 percent of its total.
Among Arizona's neighbors, New Mexico lost about 31,000 jobs, or 3.6 percent of its total. Nevada lost 118,000 jobs, or about 9.1 percent of its total.
Michigan, which has been hard-hit by auto-plant closures, has lost more jobs but a smaller proportion of the total than Arizona during the recession. Michigan lost 382,000 jobs, a 9 percent drop.
Toughest places to find a job
Job search Web site Juju.com has compiled a ranking of cities by the difficulty of job searches, based on the number of jobless people per advertised job. Here's a look at the easiest and most difficult places for job searches among the 50 largest U.S. cities. Phoenix ranked 30th for ease of job search; Tucson would rank between 43th and 44th if it were part of the top-50 list.
City / Jobless per advertised job
Least difficult:
Washington, D.C. / 2.0
Baltimore / 2.7
San Jose, Calif. / 3.1
Salt Lake City / 3.2
New York / 3.4
Arizona cities
Phoenix / 7.3
Tucson / 10.2
Most difficult
Riverside, Calif. / 13.4
Las Vegas / 14.4
Miami / 15.8
St. Louis / 19.9
Detroit / 21.6
Source: Juju.com
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