Phoenix Metro Area Adds 56,000 Jobs in April, Unemployment Drops to 3.8%
The Phoenix Metro Area added more than 56,000 new jobs in April, bringing the total nearly 2.1 million, the City of Phoenix announced today. The metro area unemployment rate dropped 0.3 percent to 3.8 percent, the lowest in ten years, and less than the 3.9 percent national unemployment rate.
Statewide, including the Phoenix Metro Area, 63,100 new jobs were added, according to the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity. The state unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in April.
The metro breakdown for new jobs added in April:
- 40,000 in the service sector
- 18,500 in production
- 11,000 in the construction
- 8,600 in manufacturing
- 7,200 in leisure and hospitality
“Manufacturing in Phoenix has been a shining point in the national economy with job increases in 16 of the last 18 months while the sector was flat nationally,” the city said in a statement.
Nearly all gains in the Phoenix Metro Area were in private-sector jobs. Governments, colleges, and school districts adding just 200 employees.
Phoenix is the fifth-largest American city, with 1.6 million people. Maricopa County is the fastest-growing county in the country.
