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Arizona jobless rate drops; government leads workforce gain

Posted at 12:29 PM, Sep 15, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-15 15:29:36-04

Arizona's unemployment rate is down, with government employment making a big contribution to the workforce.

State economic researchers report that Arizona's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August was 5.8 percent, down from 6 percent in July.

Arizona gained 29,600 non-farm jobs during August. That increase is smaller than the average monthly gain of 50,600 jobs since the Great Recession ended.

Government was the economic sector with the largest employment gain in August with 31,100 additional jobs, followed by education and health services with an increase of 5,500 jobs and leisure and hospitality with 3,700 more jobs.

The biggest decrease was recorded by construction, which lost 4,400 jobs, and the professional and business services sector, which lost 3,600 jobs.

Overall, four sectors added jobs while seven posted losses.