by Betty Beard - Oct. 17, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Arizona's unemployment rate, which has been rising faster than the national rate, climbed in September to 5.9 percent, just under the national rate of 6.1 percent.
In the past year, the state's unemployment rate has risen 55 percent, while the national rate rose 30 percent.
"Arizona has been hit harder more than other states by the housing downturn," said Frank Curtis, director of data systems at the Arizona Department of Commerce.
The number of total non-farm jobs, though, rose by 7,900 from August to September because of seasonal back-to-school hires.
It was the second consecutive month of job-total increases, but the total was 2.2 percent less than a year earlier.
Construction, which lost an additional 4,000 jobs in September, had its 13th consecutive month of losses.
Retail jobs fell 3.8 percent compared with a year earlier, a foreboding sign for the upcoming holiday season.
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