Arizona’s unemployment rate dropped slightly last month from January, but is still higher than the national rate.
The state’s unemployment rate in February was 7.3 percent, down from 7.5 percent in January and 8 percent last February. But, the more than 17,000 non-farm jobs Arizona added last month were well below the average for February over the last decade.
Economists with the state Department of Administration say more than half of the new jobs last month were in the government sector. Most of those were in education.
Of the 11 sectors the state tracks, eight added jobs last month, two lost them and one was flat. Leisure and Hospitality led the way in the private sector, followed by education and health services. Professional and business services and trade, transportation and utilities were the two industries that lost jobs last month.
