Yuma’s jobless rate hits 17% in May

Up from a month ago, but less than a year ago

In Yuma, the jobless rate in May hit 17%, a jump from April’s 13.3% but still less than a year ago when the rate was 21.5%.

Arizona’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged in May at 6.7% as overall employment increased by just 900 jobs from April.

The Arizona@Work Yuma County Career Centers received 2,273 job seekers during the month of May. These numbers include virtual contacts, as reported by Mariana Martinez, employer engagement and rapid response coordinator for Arizona@Work Yuma County.

The agency’s Business Services Team continues its efforts to help employers find workers by conducting hiring events. On Monday, it’s holding an event for Alside/Associated Materials from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Neighborhood Center located at 300 S. 13th Ave. in Yuma.

On Wednesday, Arizona@ Works Yuma County is holding a hiring event for Convey Health Solutions from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Convey, 725 W. 32nd St., Suite 2, in Yuma.

New figures from the state Office of Economic Opportunity show the number of people employed last month did not keep up with the number of people out looking for work.

Doug Walls, the labor market information director for the Office of Economic Opportunity, said the state continues its slow climb out of the effects of the pandemic-induced recession.

Overall, Arizona lost 331,500 jobs since February 2020. Of that, 247,200 have now been recovered, about 75%.

But the recovery remains inconsistent across the spectrum.

Jobs in trade, ranging from retail employees to warehouse workers and delivery drivers, actually are 39% higher now than they were before the recession.

By contrast, only 85% of the manufacturing jobs lost are

back. And despite signs of life in the leisure and hospitality sector, including bars, restaurants and hotels, employment is at just 70% of where it was in February 2020.

And construction employment also remains slow, with the state having only two-thirds of those employed in that sector now than before the recession.

Still, all of that is better than the rest of the nation where just 66% of the 22.3 million jobs lost are now back.

Walls said there are indications of better times ahead.

He said there has been a relatively steady increase in the number of permits taken out by developers for new housing units. In fact, there were 5,659 building permits authorized in April, the most recent month available, nearly double the figures from a year earlier.

Walls also pointed out that, on a national level, the ‘‘quit’’ rate is at its highest point in two decades. That figure tracks the number of people who voluntarily leave their jobs, whether for higher pay, better working conditions or to pursue a different career. Walls said that shows confidence by people that there are enough good jobs out there to let them give up what they already have.

The U.S. unemployment rate dropped three-tenths of a point in May, to 5.8%