Arizona's jobs market held essentially steady in September, with the state losing just 300 jobs from August — a figure analysts describe as little more than a rounding error.
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The state's unemployment rate also remained flat at 4.9% for the third consecutive month.
The September numbers mark a significant improvement over August, when Arizona shed 5,500 jobs — the most in a single month since the previous October. Still, the state remains in a downward trend that began in February, when 10,000 jobs were added.
Zachary Milne with the Common Sense Institute said the slowdown is not necessarily cause for alarm.
"We may see slow job growth or even kind of stagnant, no growth at all. That may not necessarily be, you know, a bad thing in the sense that it's signaling some, you know, people are losing their jobs. Like I think if you look at the national data, people aren't like losing their jobs in drastic amounts. There's just not a lot of hiring," Milne said.
On an annual basis, Arizona is still adding jobs. The state has nearly 23,000 more jobs compared to the same time last year. Those gains are led by healthcare, professional, and construction sectors. Meanwhile, the state has nearly 8,000 fewer hospitality jobs, with losses also reported in the financial and government sectors.
The impact is not being felt equally across the state. Flagstaff has lost nearly 4% of its jobs over the past year, while Yuma is down just over 2%. Lake Havasu and Sierra Vista have also seen job losses. Tucson, Prescott, and the Phoenix metro area are all growing, ranging from a half to 1%.
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