Phoenix and Tucson rank very high in a new national forecast for economic growth. The Brookings Institute report said Phoenix took first place and Tucson second for job creation among the top 100 cities during the first quarter of 2013. Phoenix lost 100,000 construction jobs during the recession, according to Arizona State University economist Lee McPheeters, but he said it is making the strongest comeback of all sectors in the local economy.
“Phoenix, among the 20 or so cities that have a million or more workers, Phoenix is number one in construction job growth," McPheeters said. "We had over the last 12 months about 13,000 construction jobs. The pace of growth is very, very solid.”
However, McPheeters said federal defense spending cuts under sequestration could be a minor setback for Arizona. Thousands of civilian layoffs are anticipated at the state’s military bases and defense contractors are preparing for reduced funding, but McPheeters said the cuts will be phased in over a few years and probably will not reverse the state’s economic rebound.