/ Modified dec 20, 2012 2:59 p.m.

AZ Jobless Rate Falls to 7.8%

Biggest November job growth in 7 years, state reports

Unemployment in Arizona declined to 7.8 percent in November, down three-tenths of 1 percentage point from October, state analysts reported Thursday.

The state added 22,700 jobs in non-agricultural categories in the month, the biggest job growth in any November since 2005, before the recession, the state Office of Employment and Population Statistics reported.

Arizona's unemployment rate has fallen three percentage points from its peak at the height of the recession in early 2010, when it was 10.8 percent.

The biggest gains in jobs in the state were in the trade, transportation and utilities sector, with 12,800, and in the professional and business services sector, with 5,000.

Construction, which was hardest hit in Arizona in the recession, was the only employment sector that lost jobs in November, the state reported. Construction jobs were down by 2,800 for the month, not uncommon for November, state officials said.

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