Unemployment keeps climbing in February, reaching 7.4 percent

With BC-CNS-State Unemployment-Counties

By STEVEN FALKENHAGEN
Cronkite News Service

PHOENIX (Thursday, March 19) _ Arizona’s unemployment rate reached 7.4 percent in February as job losses in construction, financial activities and trade offset seasonal gains in government and hospitality, the state Department of Commerce announced Thursday.

The rate is the highest the state has seen since September 1992, and Dennis Doby, the department’s senior director of research administration, expects it to continue rising through late this year and to not abate until consumers begin spending again.

“The key to recovery is consumer and business confidence in spending and incurring debt,” Doby said. “We have to improve people’s confidence levels and there has to be more certainty that they’re going to have a job in six months.”

While increasing from 7 percent in January, Arizona’s unemployment rate was still below the national rate of 8.1 percent.

Doby said he expects employment to pick up in early 2010 and for the unemployment rate to begin dropping in mid- to late 2010.

Overall, the state gained 2,100 jobs, which Doby attributed to the seasonal return of state and local school personnel. But he said that gain was modest compared to 2008 and 2007, when the state saw increases of 20,000 and 37,000 jobs, respectively.

“While it’s good news that we had an over-the-month increase, it’s seasonally a very weak increase,” Doby said. “So we’re still showing the signs of an economic downturn.”

Government gained 9,200 jobs, 7,200 of them in local education. Leisure and hospitality added 2,000 jobs.

Professional and business services grew by 2,500 jobs, an increase that Doby attributed to gearing up for tax season.

Construction continued to lead the industries that lost jobs, dropping 5,500 in February. It was the 18th consecutive monthly loss for the industry, which has shed more than 52,000 jobs over the past year.

The trade, transportation and utilities sector lost 4,600 jobs, with most of the losses in retail. The financial activities sector lost 800 jobs.

Employment has fallen by 173,000 jobs, a decline of 6.5 percent, since February 2008, the largest year-over-year decline since the department began reporting data in 1939.

^___=

Web Link:
_ Arizona Department of Commerce: www.azcommerce.com