economy

State's Joblesss Rate Up Slightly

Howard Fischer — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 20:28:04 +0000

New figures from the Department of Administration put the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for December at 7.9 percent. That's up a tenth of a point from November.

Car Sales Up in AZ

Mark Bevis — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 00:03:08 +0000

Car sales are up across the country and Arizona is no exception.

Housing Starts in AZ Up

Mark Bevis — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 23:36:34 +0000

Housing starts across the country are at their highest annual rate since 2008.

Thanksgiver Dinner Cheaper This Year

Howard Fischer — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 21:04:58 +0000

It's going to be a bit cheaper to feed the hungry horde around your Thanksgiving table this year -- and a lot cheaper if you're into organic.

State Minimum Wage to Rise

Howard Fischer — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 23:43:46 +0000

Folks at the bottom of the pay scale are soon going to get a bit of relief.

The reason is a 2006 voter-approved law which established a state minimum wage separate from the federal figure. More to the point, that law requires the Industrial Commission to adjust the figure every year. Karen Axsom, director of the commission's labor department, explains.

"It's based on the consumer price index from August to August of each year. And there was a 1.7 percent increase. We round up to 15 cents," Axsom said.

New Brewery Kickstarted in Prescott

Zac Ziegler — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Just north of Prescott’s historic downtown Courthouse Plaza sits Arizona’s newest brewery.

Granite Mountain Brewing Company opened its doors about a month ago.

The room smells of fresh hops and barley.

Just behind the large, hand-carved wooden bar is the brewery’s three-barrel brewing equipment.

If starting a new business during a recession seems a bit risky, it didn’t stop this brewery’s owners.

In fact, they saw some advantages.

Amanda Richardson and Michael Stanger are two of the brewery’s co-founders:

Housing Market in Flagstaff May be Looking Up

Mark Bevis — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 22:17:08 +0000

Across the country the housing market appears to be picking up.

In Phoenix home prices are up nearly 14 percent over last year.

And Flagstaff may soon be seeing improvement too.

Jim Snook sells houses for Dallas Real Estate, and he’s the past president of the Northern Arizona Realtor’s Association.

He’s also a numbers guy.

And Snook says the housing market in central Flagstaff is starting to look up again.

For example, houses were selling faster this August than two years ago.

Fmr Mexican President Vicente Fox Urges Closer Ties with US

Howard Fischer — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 23:23:01 +0000

Vicente Fox warned today that unless this country works closer with Mexico -- and recognizes the benefits of immigrant labor -- it will end up playing second fiddle to China.

AZ Lottery Had Best Year Ever

Howard Fischer — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 16:24:16 +0000

The economy may still be on the mend. And the jobless rate is still north of 8 percent. But there's been a jump in those trying to scratch it rich.

Good and Bad News of AZ's Jobless Rates

Howard Fischer — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 23:23:46 +0000

The state's jobless rate jumped a bit last month. But that may hide some of the good news.

On paper, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July was 8.3 percent. And the number of people working last month was less than in June. But economist Aruna Murthy of the state Department of Administration said Arizona always loses jobs in July. More to the point, the losses this year were only half as much as what usually happens. What also is significant is this is the fifth month in a row where the year-over-year growth in private sector employment is higher than 2 percent.