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A higher percentage of Arizona state jobs have been lost than that in any other state throughout the country.

A recent study from the Economic Policy Institute found that Arizona has lost the highest proportion of jobs in the nation, meaning that while other states have lost a higher number of jobs, those losses constitute a smaller percentage of the state's total economy.

Since the current economic recession began in December 2007, Arizona has lost 265,000 jobs, or 9.9 percent of the state's employment. The majority of those job losses have been in the construction industry, which has decreased by 45 percent since June 2006.

During October alone, Arizona saw its unemployment rate increase from 9.1 percent to 9.3 percent. Despite that slight increase, the state's current rate is still lower than the national unemployment rate of 10.2 percent.

Arizona had a total non-farm employment of 2,409,000 workers during October, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 2,406,800 workers during September, but a 6.9 percent decrease from last year.

The state's construction industry has continued to lose jobs on a monthly and yearly basis. The industry employed 133,700 workers during October, down from 136,400 workers during September and a 24.2 percent decrease from last year.

According to an article by Examiner, much of the blame for the current employment situation in Arizona lies with the state government and other political leaders.

"Rather than invest in education, job creation, and home-grown industries - like solar power - during boom times, the Republican-controlled state legislature offers tax cuts to businesses," the article notes. "In bust times, what do they do?

"They cut education (making Arizona less competitive in the long term)," the article continues. "Cut social services. Cut financial support to cities. And cut anything else they can think of in order to avoid raising revenue. The thought of increasing revenue by relinquishing previous tax cuts is not even on their radar."

Labels: Arizona state jobs