Phoenix is one of the top cities in the country for job growth according to the newest numbers from the US government, but the city still lags behind its pre-recession job levels.
A job growth rate of 2.7 percent puts Phoenix in seventh place compared to other large cities across the country. Phoenix is surging ahead in some industries, like finance. But it's still sluggish in others, like construction and tourism.
"It’s certainly not the kind of robust recovery that we expect to see at this phase of the business cycle," explained Professor Lee McPheters, with Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business. "But I would say that, you know, it’s certainly good compared to most metropolitan areas."
McPheters explained that one big surprise has been growth in the Phoenix information sector, which includes jobs in Internet publishing and data processing. The city is now number one in the country in that field and created as many information-related jobs in 2013 as San Francisco.