AZ unemployment goes down, but available jobs remain high

By Greg Hahne
Howard Fischer/Capitol Media Services
Published: Friday, January 20, 2023 - 3:22pm

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has dropped slightly to 4%, according to the state Office of Economic Opportunity. 

Doug Walls with the office says there is still a significant gap between the amount of people looking for jobs, and the amount of jobs available. 

The average hourly wage in Arizona jumped 5.7% from a year ago. Walls says there’s a reason for that. 

“Employers are trying to incentivize potential employees to come work for them by increasing wages. And so employers have had to be more competitive to attract that talent," Walls said. 

Though the rate of which hourly wages went up in Arizona was faster than the rest of the nation, those wages are below the rest of the country. 

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