2-year job-growth forecast: 5.6%
Metropolitan-area population: 4.0 million
Who's hiring now: ASU, Banner Health, suburban schools
Hottest jobs: Senior software developer ($84,800), IT project manager ($78,600), semiconductor process engineer ($78,000), physician's assistant ($76,200), construction project manager ($74,000)
In each of the past three years, the Phoenix area has created about 95,000 new jobs, many of them fueled by an unprecedented construction boom. This year's number is pegged at about 60,000--a major drop-off, to be sure, but still enough in the context of the national slowdown to place Phoenix solidly in the top 10. Low income taxes and sunny weather are still attracting a steady stream of newcomers, primarily from the Northeast and Midwest; 114,000 are expected this year, continuing to stoke demand for new roads, schools, and health-care facilities. So while Phoenix's homebuilding sector will likely be down about 40 percent in 2007, employment linked to long-term infrastructure projects will stay hot. Still, Phoenix remains largely a mom-and-pop economy, with small business expected to drive most of the job expansion.
America's best jobs in the hottest marketsThe great American hiring boom is slowing down--but as labor cools with the rest of the economy, a few choice regions will stay red-hot. You just have to know where to look. |
Banner Health is expanding its network for medical centers and hospitals.Business 2.0 May/June 07Where the Hottest Job Markets Arebizjournals - September 10, 2007 by G. Scott Thomas"Phoenix has seen a real boom, and it has been broad-based," says Austin Litvak, an associate economist with Moody's Economy.com, an international research firm. "The economy there really took off in 2004 and 2005, largely due to the housing market and the large number of people moving into the area."Phoenix has expanded its employment base by 23.4 percent since 2002, almost quadrupling the national rate. Its five-year influx of 325,100 private-sector jobs topped the natio, with Washington's gain of 245,400 a distant second.That torrid pace has slowed a bit lately. Phoenix added an average of 68,000 private-sector jobs annually between 2002 and 2006, but dropped to 52,900 in 2006-07. The latter figure was fourth-best in the country, trailingDallas, Houston and New York City."That being said, the growth is still above the national average, still impressive," says Litvak. "The housing market is going through a correction now, but when it stabilizes, we believe Phoenix will begin accelerating again."Quick stats:
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