Report: Arizona growth slows, only adds 700 jobs in August

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(The Center Square) - Arizona ranked 31st nationwide for its August job growth, adding 700 new non-farm jobs, according to a new report.

The Common Sense Institute released its monthly Arizona labor force update last week showing the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 4.1% for a sixth consecutive month. This ranks tied for 31st in America. 

Arizona added 1,100 manufacturing jobs, which ranked third across the country, CSI noted. 

Year-over-year, CSI found Arizona had added 41,400 jobs, which ranked 15th across the country. However, over the last five months, Arizona has lost 15,100 jobs, CSI said. 

Arizona has been experiencing “the second worst performing labor market in terms of nominal job losses” since April, CSI stated. 

Zachary Milne, a senior economist at CSI, told The Center Square that Arizona has seen job creation slowing in the state. He explained this has been the story in Arizona since last year. 

To illustrate, Milne said Arizona added around 6,000 jobs a month between 2016 and 2019. He added that in 2022 and 2023, the state produced around 8,000 jobs and 6,000 jobs, respectively. 

However, when looking at 2024 and 2025 numbers, Milne said the number has decreased to an estimated 1,500 jobs on average per month.

According to the economist, the real driving force of employment in Arizona and nationally has been education and the health service sector. The New York Times reported in July that health care is now the biggest employer in 38 states.

From August 2024 to August 2025, based on percentage, the industries that grew the most in Arizona were mining and logging, education and health services and other services. 

CSI said mining and logging grew at 10.2%, while the others grew at 4.7% and 3.3%, respectively. 

Milne pointed out the mining and logging industry is a “small portion” of Arizona’s economy, so when it adds hundreds of jobs, it causes a “significant uptick percentage-wise.” 

According to the CSI report, the average hourly wage for private sector workers in August is $34.91 an hour, which is up 4.1% year over year. Despite this increase in wages, it has not kept up with inflation. CSI estimated since April 2020 that Arizonans' inflation-adjusted wages have declined by 4.3%.

Inflation has “taken more than what [people] gained out of the wage gains,” the economist explained.

Milne noted there is a lot of “variability” in economic data, stating it is “hard month to month because there are constant revisions to the employment data. He said this variability makes it difficult to “get a read on what’s actually happening.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics revised its job numbers between April 2024 and March 2025 earlier this month, stating the economy made 911,000 fewer jobs than initially estimated by the federal government.