PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona is expected to lose still more jobs in 2010 but at a much slower pace than this year.
The Arizona Department of Commerce projects the job-loss rate next year will slide seven-tenths of 1 percent. That's compared with a 6.8 percent drop so far in 2009.
This year, the state has seen jobs disappear at an average of 500 per day.
The Commerce Department says only two out of 11 sectors are projected to add jobs. The education and health services sector is forecast to be up 1.8 percent. The trade, transportation and utilities sector will rise 0.3 percent.
Optimism in Arizona is tempered by experts' fears that hiring will lag behind the economic recovery.
The Phoenix region is expected to trail the rest of the country in emerging from the recession because it's overdependent on real estate.
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Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com
