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By Russ Wiles | Arizona Republi
Growing metro Phoenix: Maricopa County finished first in a national study done by labor-analytics firm Emsi that ranks counties by various economic-development factors.
Metro Phoenix has finished at the top — again — in a national study that ranks counties by their ability to attract and retain high-quality workers and other economic-development factors.
Maricopa County finished first in the study by labor-analytics firm Emsi, beating out runner-up Clark County, Nevada, home of Las Vegas, and dozens of counties from Texas and Florida. The study evaluated counties in terms of migration, overall job growth, skilled-job growth, educational attainment, regional competitiveness and annual job openings per capita.
Maricopa County placed second overall last year but has finished first in three of the five years the study was conducted. The latest version analyzed 601 counties across the U.S., including nine of 15 in Arizona.
