This past month we’ve seen a slight uptick in unemployment. with the new minimum wage laws could get higher.
Unemployment in Arizona increased for the second time in three months, though total joblessness is still near a historic low.
Driving the news: Arizona’s unemployment rate rose from 3.3% to 3.5% in August, according to the monthly jobs report from the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA).
Nationally, the unemployment rate jumped from 3.5% to 3.7% in August.
Yes, but: Total employment and total jobs both increased in August.
Total employment increased by 11,137, while the state added 46,300 non-farm jobs.
The majority of those new jobs were in the government sector, largely due to the start of the new school year.
The big picture: Doug Walls, the labor market information director at the ACA’s Office of Economic Opportunity, doesn’t view the second unemployment rate increase in three months as particularly worrisome.
Walls says there’s a view at the national level that the economy has been growing too quickly, causing the massive jump in the consumer price index over the past year.
1 big number: Average hourly earnings in Arizona increased by 6.9% last month, which Walls attributes to a competitive hiring market.
The leisure and hospitality, construction, education and health services sectors primarily drove that wage growth.
Axios Phoenix By Jeremy Duda and Jessica Boehm · Sep 19, 2022
