Report: Arizona jobless rate drops to 8.7 percent
Published: March 8, 2012 at 3:57 pm
(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Arizona’s seasonally adjusted unemployment for January dropped to 8.7 percent after the December rate was recalibrated upward.
Department of Administration economists say the original December rate of 8.7 percent was changed to 9 percent as part of a recalibration using updated data.
The department reports that Arizona lost 34,300 non-farm jobs in January due to leaner hiring. But the economists note that the January loss is well-below the averages for both the past 10 years and the 10 years before the recession.
Most of the January job losses occurred in the private sector, with retail trade and employment services losing the most in the private sector.
The department says the losses reflect typical staff reductions after the holiday shopping season.
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