By Betty Beard | TucsonSentinel.com
Arizona continues to surpass the nation in adding manufacturing jobs, with an increase of 9,000 positions over the past year and 1,000 over the past month, the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity said Thursday.
The monthly change is especially dramatic because the state typically gains no manufacturing jobs in March, according to averages since the recession ended in 2009.
Manufacturing jobs grew 5.5 percent over the year to 170,400 in Arizona, compared to the national average of 1.9 percent. These jobs tend to require higher skills and pay better than most.
“This is a very strong growth rate for manufacturing and the strongest growth rate we’ve seen since 1995,” said Doug Walls, research administrator for the state agency.
