PHOENIX β Arizonaβs economy grew more slowly in 2015 even as the stateβs labor market posted its best year since the recession, new federal data shows.
The stateβs gross domestic product grew 0.9 percent last year, half as much as it gained in 2014, according to inflation-adjusted figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Nationally, output grew from 2.2 percent to 2.4 percent.
Despite the slowdown in growth, Arizona still ranked 15th in the nation.
The mining industry, which has been hit hard by steep drops in copper prices, fell 16 percent from the year before.
It was the worst showing of any of Arizonaβs industries. Utilities fell 11 percent, the fourth year in a row of inflation-adjusted declines in that field.
The construction industry also posted a small loss.
Overall, the stateβs output grew, in part because of continued gains in administrative jobs, the financial industry and information-related jobs in technological fields.
The state avoided some of the volatility seen in states more reliant on oil and gas, said Lee McPheters, director of the JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.
Overall, 28 states saw slower growth in 2015, in some cases because of the crash in oil and gas prices. The biggest decline, for example, was in North Dakota, which saw annual GDP move from 6 percent growth in 2014 to -2.1 percent in 2015.
The slower growth in output comes as Arizonaβs labor market posted its best year since the Great Recession began in late 2007.
Arizona employers added 82,000 net jobs last year, which translated to 3.2 percent growth.
Virginia made the biggest positive swing and California, which traditionally has the largest output, also posted strong gains in 2015.
