Arizona has finally recovered all the jobs lost during the Great Recession, according to the latest data from the Arizona Department of Administration. For the first time since October 2007, Arizona has more people in the workforce than ever before.
With 25,300 jobs added in February, the workforce hit a record 2.7 million, topping the 2.69 million workers eight and a half years ago. Arizona’s workforce lost 313,500 jobs between the October 2007 peak month and the trough of 2.37 million workers in September 2010.
Arizona’s February U-3 “conventional” unemployment rate dropped to 5.5 percent from 6.3 percent last year. The rate is also down 0.1 percent from January.
The state gained 79,200 jobs over February 2014, with most of those in education and health services (19,600 jobs), professional and business services (16,800), and trade, transportation and utilities (12,200).
In month-over-month data, governments added the most workers, 14,800, but even with that boost, the total public workforce is 2,400 employees less than last February. Leisure and hospitality (5,900), education and health services (3,100) were the sectors with the next largest boost in employment for the month.
