(Center Square) — Arizona’s unemployment rate rose slightly in June, but tens of thousands of jobs have been added in the state since last year.

The unemployment rate rose to 3.5% in June from 3.4% in May, an improvement from 3.8% in June 2022, according to data from the Arizona Department of Economic Opportunity.

Additionally, the seasonally adjusted labor force grew by more than 8,000 from May to June, up nearly 63,000 year-on-year.

The biggest gains in June were in the construction, trade, transport and utilities sectors, while the government sector and leisure and services sector suffered heavy losses, reporting losses of 38,300 and 4,300 respectively.

Regarding the year-on-year growth in non-farm employment, 71,900 jobs were added from June last year to June this year, of which 58,100 were in the private sector. The largest year-on-year job additions were in private education and health services, reaching 24,500. This comes as businesses and families continue to migrate from California and elsewhere to the state for lower tax rates and cost of living. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Maricopa County is the fastest growing county in the nation, with a 1.3% increase in population from 2021 to 2022 to about 57,000 people.

The national unemployment rate stood at 3.6% in June, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the BLS determined that an additional 452,000 people were now employed “part-time for economic reasons,” increasing that number to 4.2 million nationwide.