Valley job market flourished over the past year

from The East Valley Tribune, July 30, 2004
Ed Gately, Tribune

The Valley's job market rebounded mightily during the past year from the post-Sept. 11, 2001, recession, driven by stepped-up construction activity trying to keep pace with a surging population, a new federal report shows.

The Phoenix-Mesa market led all metropolitan areas except Washington, D.C., in year-over-year increases in employment during the 12 months that ended June 30, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Among 274 metropolitan areas nationally, 194 posted year-over-year increases in employment, 75 lost jobs and five had no change. The largest increases after Phoenix-Mesa were recorded in the Las Vegas, St. Louis and New York metro areas.

During the 12 months that ended June 30, the Valley added 41,200 jobs, according to nonfarm payroll data compiled by the bureau.

"Construction had a pretty good-size increase of more than 15,000 jobs, while professional and business services was up by 9,000 jobs," said Guy Podgornick of the bureau's Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics. "These two were the biggest gains followed by other, smaller gains."

The state's construction industry set another record last month in terms of employment and now encompasses nearly one-third of all nonfarm jobs added since June 2003, according to the Arizona Department of Economic Security.

The region's continued population growth is a major factor in the job creation.

Modular Technology, a Valley-based general contractor that builds schools and bank branches for Bank of America and Wells Fargo, has seen a jump in its construction revenue during the past year and has added to its work force to keep up with an increasing number of projects, said company president Mike Morton.

"Both of those (schools and bank branches) are directly tied to population growth," he said. "As people move in, they need schools . . . and it's the same thing with banks. All the banks we do are in the new growth areas."

Since 2002, Modular Technology's work force has grown from 85 to about 150 people. It has built bank branches throughout the East Valley.

The business and professional services sector includes a wide spectrum of jobs ranging from more skilled positions such as attorneys, engineers, accountants and architects to lesser-skilled positions such as call center workers, building inspectors and waste services, said Don Wehbey, the DES senior economist.

"Business and professional services accounts for more than 14 percent of the businesses in the state," he said.

With the exception of manufacturing, employment across the Valley has completely rebounded since the recession, Wehbey said.

The Valley's unemployment rate fell from 4.3 percent in May to 4 percent last month, according to the DES. National unemployment held at 5.6 percent.

"We're seeing manufacturing and information services in the metro area still lagging in the recovery process," Wehbey said. "But the rest of the economy - service producing, construction and even mining - have been adding jobs. And we've seen companies coming to the Valley and opening. There's been a lot of development, both commercial and housing, and when companies come here they've got a very willing labor market here."

Unlike most of the country, the Valley only went six months during the
economic downturn without year-over-year employment gains, he said.

"Since then we've basically been seeing two years' worth of over-the-year job growth," Wehbey said. "Last year we were showing a gain of about 1 percent, and we've been showing growth of about 2.5 percent . . . , which is in the neighborhood of around 55,000 (new jobs this year)."

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