PHOENIX — Days after Arizona received positive news about employment growth, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released first quarter GDP numbers that show Arizona outpaced most other states.
In its quarterly analysis released this week, the BEA shows Arizona posted a 2.5 percent increase in the first quarter of 2018, among the top ten states in the country, and ahead of the national growth rate of 1.8 percent. Gross domestic product, as defined by the BEA, is the market value of goods and services produced by the labor and property located in a state over a defined period of time.
“Jobs in Arizona are growing, and so are paychecks. We can’t lose sight of the impact a growing economy has on the citizens of our state, bettering their lives and and allowing them to provide more for their families,” said Governor Ducey. “We’ll continue this momentum with an ongoing commitment to make Arizona the best state in the nation to launch new ideas and start or scale a business.”
Industries that contributed the most to growth in Arizona include:
- Real estate and rental leasing
- Retail trade
- Finance and insurance
- Health care and social assistance
- Durable goods manufacturing.
This comes on the heels of good economic news in terms of employment growth for the state.
As of June 2018, Arizona added 238,800 jobs (seasonally adjusted, nonfarm) since January 2015, according to the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) monthly employment report.
OEO reports the unemployment rate remains steady at 4.7 percent. The unemployment rate in January of 2015 was 6.4 percent. In addition to the 238,800 jobs created in the state in that three-and-a-half-year time period, the number of people unemployed in Arizona decreased by 45,243.
