Downward trends…
New numbers from the State Department of Administration
show that the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July was 6.1
percent, an increase from June. Nationally, the unemployment rate remained
steady at 5.3 percent. Three
sectors posted losses including nearly 13,000 jobs lost in local
education.
Further
complicating the economic landscape for the state is news that Mexico’s Treasury
Department has lowered its economic growth forecast for 2015. Last year, the
state exported $8.6 billion to Mexico –
which represents 41 percent of Arizona’s total international exports. On top of
that, visitors from Mexico spend upwards of $7 million daily in Arizona. The economic
relationship between Mexico and Arizona is important.
These numbers follow a report from The Phoenix Business
Journal that businesses are avoiding the state because of “Arizona’s
reputation on education.” According to the article, two companies
considering relocations to Phoenix passed because “’they were afraid they would
not find good schools for their own children.’” These businesses brought about
3,000 high-paying jobs to other cities.
The governor likes to say that Arizona is open for
business, but our economic recovery has been characterized
as uneven and many of the state’s largest stocks have stalled out this year.
All of this news shows signs of a downward trend.
A true economic recovery plan should include funding for
education. And the governor and other Republican leaders should be putting
resources into classrooms now – new projections show that
Arizona will end the year with a $325 million surplusand about
$460 million in the state’s rainy-day fund. With the state’s economic
future at stake, we have to #AskDuceyWhy he’s not investing in education
now.
