PHOENIX —
The Phoenix area is booming with more jobs and opportunity since before the recession, according to numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The total Phoenix metro area workforce grew by nearly 514,000 jobs since the lowest point of the recession in 2009. In 2007, before the recession, employment peaked at 1,947,700 jobs. During the recession, the workforce declined by more 300,000 jobs.
Ten years ago, the country fell into what would be known as the Great Recession. More than 8.7 million jobs were lost. The unemployment rate skyrocketed to 10 percent nationwide.
Eric Jay Toll, city communications manager for community and economic development, said it took until the fall of 2015 for employment numbers to start to bounce back in the greater Phoenix area.
Before the recession, more than half the jobs in the metro area were in construction, real estate and retail. Now, those employment sectors make up a smaller portion of the entire workforce.
However, the Valley continues to see job growth as new leading industries emerge.
“The major changes are seen in the types of jobs being created," Toll said. "Currently, more of the jobs in the Valley are in manufacturing, financial and business services, bioscience and healthcare, and technology than in consumer-oriented sectors like construction, real estate and retail. Before the recession, these four advanced industry sectors represented less than half the private workforce."
Phoenix is dubbed one of the fastest growing job markets and economies in the United States. Toll said biosciences and healthcare show the most growth with more than 100,000 new jobs since 2007 and more than 7,000 new jobs on the way.
“The key importance of the numbers is the growth in high-wage, career-track industries," Toll said. "The advanced industries tend to pay more, offer benefits, and provide job growth advancement. The Phoenix City Council has made it a priority to recruit these types of businesses."
To keep progress moving forward there’s been investments in job training and economic development.
