Arizona job growth ranks 8th in March
Arizona employment increased by 1.9 percent year-over-year in March, advancing the state into the 8th position in the job creation rankings. Last year at this time, the Grand Canyon State ranked 36th. North Dakota again led all states in the rate of job growth in March, as non-agricultural employment rose 6.6 percent compared to March of 2011. Phoenix ranked in 4th position among large metro labor markets, with growth of 2.3 percent. Phoenix ranked among the top 5 fastest growing large labor markets in information industry jobs (2nd), health care (3rd) and construction (4th) over the past 12 months.
Arizona moved up from 10th to 8th in the national job growth rankings in March, as West Virginia dropped out of the top ten, making space for newcomer Idaho (see table). Last year at this time, the Grand Canyon State ranked 36th.
North Dakota again led all states in the rate of year-over-year job growth in March, as non-agricultural employment rose 6.6 percent compared to March of 2011. North Dakota has outpaced all other states in employment gains for 35 consecutive months.
The latest rankings were compiled by the W. P. Carey School of Business from data released by the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on April 19, 2012.
State Job Growth in March 2012 vs. March 2011
| Rank | State | Percent change | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source: W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University, derived from U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | |||||||||||
| 1 | North Dakota | 6.6 | |||||||||
| 2 | Louisiana | 2.5 | |||||||||
| 3 | Oklahoma | 2.4 | |||||||||
| 4 | Utah | 2.3 | |||||||||
| 4 | Texas | 2.3 | |||||||||
| 6 | Kentucky | 2.2 | |||||||||
| 7 | Colorado | 2.1 | |||||||||
| 8 | Arizona | 1.9 | |||||||||
| 8 | Maryland | 1.9 | |||||||||
| 10 | Idaho | 1.8 | |||||||||
| 11 | United States | 1.5 | |||||||||
Louisiana moved into second position and Oklahoma was third in the rankings based on the percentage change in employment. Utah and Texas tied for fourth place, rounding out the top five fastest growing states over-the-year in March.
According to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, all non-agricultural jobs increased nationally by 1.5 percent in March compared to the prior year, while the number of new jobs in the U.S. rose by 1.9 million over-the-year.
Texas created the greatest number of new jobs in the past year, as employment in the Lone Star State grew by 237,000. California jobs were up by 217,000 in March, followed by an increase of 148,000 in New York.
Four states (Montana, Mississippi, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin) lost jobs over-the-year in March, occupying positions at the bottom of the rankings. Wisconsin has ranked last (50th) for the past five months.
Houston Posts Strongest Big Metro Job Gains
Among the nation's largest metropolitan areas (more than one million workers), jobs grew most rapidly in the Houston region (3.2 percent) over-the-year in March, followed by the Dallas and Seattle metro areas (tied at the first decimal point at 2.4 percent).
Phoenix, Arizona, ranked in 4th position, with growth of 2.3 percent, tied with Denver. Phoenix ranked among the top 5 fastest growing large labor markets in information industry jobs (2nd), health care (3rd) and construction (4th) over the past 12 months.
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