Arizona beats national jobless rate as growth shows signs of slowing
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Arizona's unemployment rate is slightly better than the nation as a whole, though signs point to slowing in job growth.
Why it matters: Americans are feeling almost as gloomy about the job market as they did during the Great Recession — and entry-level workers are having an especially hard time getting their foot in the door.
By the numbers: Arizona's unemployment rate in July was 4.1%, a shade under the national rate of 4.2%.
- The Arizona rate remained unchanged from the previous month, per the state's Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO).
Yes, but: Arizona has had three consecutive months of seasonally adjusted job losses, including 4,900 in July, according to OEO.
Between the lines: From July 2024 to July 2025, Arizona ranked 26th in job creation with 1.1% growth, OEO labor market information director Doug Walls tells Axios.
- Year-to-date, he said, Arizona has added 5,200 seasonally adjusted jobs.
- "We still see overall slowing growth, but still positive," Walls said.
Zoom out: South Dakota (1.9% unemployment); North Dakota (2.5%) and Vermont (2.6%) had July's lowest unemployment rates, based on preliminary and seasonally-adjusted BLS data out Tuesday.
- Washington, D.C. (6%), California (5.5%) and Nevada (5.4%) had the highest.