Arizona creates 24,400 jobs in Nov. but jobless rate flat

• The state added 24%2C400 jobs in November%2C with many of them in retail and temporary employment
• The slump in construction continues and the year ahead doesn%27t suggest much improvement

Led by seasonal retail hiring, Arizona employers created more than 24,000 jobs in November, a figure that didn't change the state's above-average unemployment rate.

Arizona added nearly 67,000 jobs, enough for 2.6 percent growth, from November 2013 to November 2014. That's the second-best monthly reading since 2006 and the second straight month of improving numbers.

Many of the gains likely will disappear after the holiday shopping season, but for now it leaves Arizona on track for another calendar year of about 2 percent job growth.

With the upcoming Super Bowl, the usual spring training tourism blitz and fewer federal spending cuts, Arizona finally could see sustained growth over the next several months, said Dennis Hoffman, director of the L. William Seidman Research Institute at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

"I've been waiting till we can get into the mid- to upper-2s," he said of the job figures. "If we can get the numbers into a 3, people are going to start feeling it. ... I think we're going into a period with a little bit of a tailwind."

Aruna Murthy, director of economic analysis for the Arizona Office of Employment and Population Statistics, forecasts 2015 will be another year similar to the past few, suggesting Arizona won't soon recover its recessionary job losses, although the U.S. as a whole reclaimed all its pre-recession jobs by May. So far, Arizona has recovered about 62 percent of the jobs it lost during the Great Recession, she said.

"It's a good-news report," she said of the November figures. Still, "It's about the same as last year. I don't see a way better year (in 2015). Hopefully, it won't be worse."

Arizona's unemployment remained at at 6.8 percent for November. That's down from 7.8 percent a year earlier. Nationally, the jobless rate stands at 5.8 percent, down from 7.0 percent in 2013.

The retail sector added 11,000 jobs in November. That's down about 1,000 from what it has added in past years. Murthy said the lower number likely is due to some jobs showing as temporary employment services, but also because
of a continued shift by consumers to online shopping, which is less labor- intensive.

Temporary workers gained about 5,800 jobs, continuing what has been the state's best-ever year for temp employment growth, she said.

Financial activities, reflecting a combination of real estate and insurance growth, posted gains, along with the health-care sector.

Government employment grew by 1,100, smaller than its usual November rate.

The slump in construction employment deepened, with the industry shedding another 900 jobs last month. Over the past 12 months, the industry has lost 4,300 jobs. It is the only major industrial sector in Arizona to lose jobs in that time.

Professional and business services tops the state's 12-month growth list, adding 20,600 jobs. Private education and health services is next with 18,100.

A MONTH OF GAINS

Arizona posted strong retail hiring in November, and most other sectors saw gains as well. Here's a look at jobs created by category:

Trade, transportation and utilities: 12,900

Professional and business services: 4,700

Other services: 2,000

Financial activities: 2,000

Education and health services: 1,500

Government: 1,100

Leisure and hospitality: 900

Information: 300

Natural resources and mining: 100

Manufacturing: -200

Construction: -900

Source: Arizona Office of Employment and Population Statistics