Yuma jobless rate jumps to 18.7%

State figure also rises slightly to 5.1%

PHOENIX — The state’s jobless rate ticked up a tenth of a point to 5.1 percent as Arizona employers shed more jobs last month than they typically do this time of year.

New figures from the state’s Office of Economic Opportunity show total employment in May down by 14,700 from the prior month.

Some of that is expected, coming in state and local education jobs where people in certain positions, like janitors and food service workers, are technically unemployed over the summer even if they expect to be rehired when the school year resumes in August.

But the figures also show the loss of 5,500 private sector jobs between April and May. That compares with a typical loss of 200 jobs during the same time period since the recession ended.

By contrast, the national jobless rate dropped a tenth of a point, to 4.3 percent.

Despite that, Doug Walls, the agency’s research director, described that 5,500 month-over-month job loss as “minimal.’’

Of that total, 1,600 of those were in the leisure and hospitality industry, including 1,000 employees of hotels and motels. That tracks the fact that as the weather heats up, the tourists generally flee.

But the overall sector — particularly jobs in bars and restaurants — remains the healthiest overall in the state, growing by 17,100 jobs since the same time last year. That’s at a clip of 5.5 percent.

By comparison, the entire private sector added just 46,400 jobs year over year, a 2.0 percent increase.

Construction employment, while losing 1,000 jobs last month, is still up 3.4 percent compared to a year ago. Walls said there are more signs of life, with developers continuing to seek permits for construction of new single-family homes.

And the state’s financial employers — everything from jobs in lending to insurance — added 9,700 jobs since last year.

On the other side of the equation, retail employment remains lackluster, growing just 0.2 percent in the past year as the industry continues to be hard hit by online competitors.

Among the metropolitan areas that the report singles out, Pima County remains the weakest. Not only did it lose 1,400 private sector jobs between April and May but total private employment last month was 100 below a year ago.

The biggest sector loss for Pima County year over year was in professional and business services, a catch-all that includes private sector jobs in scientific and technical services and administrative and support positions. There are now 2,800 fewer people working for those firms than last year.

Walls said he had no clear explanation for that at this point.

Yuma County’s unemployment also jumped higher in May, to 18.7 percent a 2.7 percent increase over April’s 16.2 percent. It is still lower than it was in May 2016, when it hit 19.7 percent.

The separate employer survey shows a less-drastic drop in filled positions within Yuma County, 0.5 percent , and its year-over-year performance over May 2016, 3.4 percent, was the best among the state’s seven metropolitan statistical areas.

A total of 55,400 jobs were reported, with no sectors reporting an increase in hiring from April and a few with minor decreases, including trade, transportation and utilities, educational and health services and leisure and hospitality.

Patrick Goetz, business services officer for Arizona@Work’s four Yuma County career centers, said they saw a “spike” in jobhunters seeking services last month, up 750 from April to 3,538. The main Yuma location at 3834 West 16th St. drew 1,187 people.

The number of jobs posted in May was up slightly from the month before, 151 submitted by 41 employers.

Sprouts Farmers Market, opening next month in Yuma, is continuing interviews for job candidates after receiving over 1,000 applications, Goetz said. Two recent store closures, Radio Shack in the Foothills and Rue 21 in San Luis, are affecting a combined 20 employees.

The Almark egg processing plant under construction in Yuma is expected to begin hiring later this year, while the Martech medical equipment manufacturer which just began operations is expected to expand its workforce in the months to come, but no dates have been set, he said.