Breaking News - Greater Yuma Economic Development Corporation

Yuma Jobless Rate Keeps Climbing

Mar. 25th, 2010
Stephanie Wilken

Unemployment is up 2.5 percentage points from last month — and Yuma-area employment experts said it's no surprise. The unemployment rate in Yuma was 29.6 percent in February, up from 27.1 percent in January. That's a 6.1 percent increase from the year before, according to new numbers released Thursday by the Arizona Department of Commerce. John Morales, executive director of the Yuma Private Industry Council, said it's not surprising and they saw an increase in January of people looking for work. "But the problem is we are so deep into this particular recession," he said. "It's piling on." Morales said he doesn't want to sound like a broken record — but the continued climb in unemployment is a reality. Job losses dating back to 2007 were so quick and so deep, he said, that the problem adds to itself. Julie Engel, president and CEO of the Greater Yuma Economic Development Corp., said the increase could be caused by the produce season in the area wrapping up. She said they've seen no major layoffs in the manufacturing sector. Morales said statewide, the construction industry has lost about 52 percent of its work force. "When you add in everything that's occurred, the government sector is losing jobs," he said. Morales also referred to the furloughs imposed on both the city and state workers. And with possible shifts in some financial responsibilities for local governments, there could be even more pressure, he said. Morales said it all impacts people's spending. Without the proposed one percent tax increase on the ballot in May, Morales said it could get worse. "If that does not pass, then there's going to be a series of dominos falling down," he said. "It's a really vicious spiral of things that are occurring that are connected to each other." Across the state, the unemployment rate jumped three-tenths of a point from January to February, up to 9.5 percent from 9.2 percent. The February figure was up 1.5 percent from the previous year. In the Phoenix area, which includes Maricopa and Pinal counties, there were 13,700 more people working in February as compared to January. But after seasonal adjustments based on historic patterns, the unemployment rate shot up from 8.4 percent in January. Similarly, Pima County's unemployment rate went up 8/10ths of a point, to 9.1 percent. All that shows the economy, while gaining some jobs, remains weak. Total Arizona employment is still 97,100 less than it was a year earlier — and 323,700 the peak at the beginning of the recession in December 2007. There were a few relatively bright spots. The state's restaurants and bars added 5,000 new workers between January and February while hotels and other lodging places hired an additional 900. Aruna Murthy, ADC's director of economic analysis, said that is pretty much in line with the month-over-month changes between January and February. She said much of that relates to winter visitors, including spring training and the fact that the weather was so bad Back East. Still, total combined employment in both sectors is 5,400 below the same time a year earlier. The construction industry showed some flicker of life, adding 1,300 jobs in the last month. But that brought total employment up to 112,200, less than half of what it was at its peak. Elsewhere in the economy, employment was up by 1,200 in stores that sell building materials and garden supplies. But clothing stores laid off 700 workers, with identical drop cuts in department stores. Health care shed 1,100 jobs between January and February. But this sector of the Arizona economy is one that, over time, continues to grow, with total employment this past month 3,300 higher than a year earlier. Morales said he and others do not have a clear idea of when things could turn around, though some economists have predicted it will take years to reach revenue levels of 2005. "It doesn't look like we're coming out of this situation very quickly," Morales said.

Stephanie Wilken
Sun Staff Writer
The Sun
Mar. 25th, 2010

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