Tens of Thousands of Phoenix Government Jobs Lost

More Phoenix government jobs were lost during June than in any other industry.

During June, the Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale area's unemployment rate increased from 8.7 percent to 9 percent, following an increase from 8.4 percent during May. Despite those increases, the area's rate is still lower than the national average of 9.5 percent.

The Phoenix area had a total non-farm employment of 1,684,200 workers during June, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is down from 1,720,600 workers during May, but only a .3 percent decrease from last year.

Only four industries managed to see a monthly increase in employment during June. The professional and business services industry added the most workers, increasing by 2,600 jobs, while the other services industry was a close second, increasing by 2,000 jobs.

The manufacturing industry grew by 1,000 jobs and the trade, transportation and utilities industry added 700 jobs. Employment in the mining and logging industry remained even over the month and year with 2,900 workers.

Of all the industries that lost jobs between May and June, the government industry suffered the most, declining by 33,800 workers for a current total employment of 215,100.

On a yearly basis, five industries managed to add jobs during June. The education and health services industry saw the biggest increase, growing by 3.6 percent over the year, for a total of 229,100 jobs.

The trade, transportation and utilities industry increased by 1.8 percent to 358,600 jobs, while the other services industry grew by 1.4 percent to 70,400 workers, the leisure and hospitality industry increased by 1 percent to 175,100 jobs, and the professional and business services industry grew by .7 percent to 274,200 workers.

On the flip side, the construction industry took the biggest hit when compared to last year, losing 11.1 percent of its workforce between June 2009 and June 2010 for a current total of 86,800 jobs.

Other industries that saw an over-the-year decrease in employment include: information by 9.8 percent; financial activities by 4.7 percent; manufacturing by 1.6 percent; and government by .8 percent.