STATE CAPITOL, PHOENIX (October 19, 2012) – The Office of Employment and Population Statistics (EPS), housed under the Arizona Department of Administration, released their September employment report showing that Arizona gained 57,100 nonfarm jobs in the last 12 months. The job gains represent 2.4% annual growth, marking the fourth consecutive month of over-the-year job gains above 2%, a trend that has not occurred since 2007.

"What we are seeing in Arizona is real economic recovery," Speaker Tobin said. "After coming off some tough years of Arizona losing jobs, we are now leading the nation in business start-ups and are among the leaders in job growth. We are also seeing the private sector coming back to invest in Arizona. The private sector is responsible for over 93% of the jobs that have been created over the last year, and that is due to the state getting out of the way for job creators to invest and hire in Arizona."

EPS noted that the Private Sector gained 53,300 jobs over the year, a gain of 2.7%. Prior to this year, average annual Private Sector gains above 2% were last observed in March '07.

Speaker Tobin went on to say, "Overall, the latest jobs report shows that Republicans made the right decisions to get Arizona back on track by balancing our budgets, making investments in our state, and passing economic development legislation."