Prescott MSA May 2024 Summary

Exhibit 1 presents current Prescott MSA economic indicators.

In March 2024, the seasonally adjusted civilian labor force in the Prescott MSA grew by 1.0% over the year, reaching 110,521. Throughout 2024 so far, all months have shown over-the-year growth, with January and February seeing increases of 0.8% and 0.9%, respectively.

Seasonally adjusted resident employment in the Prescott MSA experienced a similar trend to labor force growth, showing a 0.8% increase over the year in March to 106,845. Both January and February showed increases of 0.6%.

Despite the number of unemployed individuals decreasing month-over-month throughout 2024, all months have shown slight over-the-year increases, with the number of unemployed increasing by 7.2% over the year to 3,676 in March. Similarly, while the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has decreased from 3.6% in January to 3.3% in March, all months have shown over-the-year increases, with March’s rate showing a 0.2 percentage point increase over the same month last year. For context, the unemployment rates in the US and Arizona both hit 3.8% in March.

Non-seasonally adjusted average hourly earnings decreased throughout the first three months of 2024, reporting over-the-year decreases of 6.5%, 3.5%, and 1.2% from January to March. The March hourly rate of $25.3 translates to an annual full-time salary of approximately $52,624.

Total nonfarm jobs have shown steady over-the-year growth throughout 2024. In March, the number of seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll jobs hit 71,100, a 1.6% increase over last year. In comparison, Arizona gained 69,600 to reach 3,251,500 in March, a 2.2% over-the-year increase, and the US gained 303,000 jobs to hit 158,133,000, a 1.9% increase.

Federal government jobs showed the most significant percentage gain over the year, coming in at a 17.6% increase to 2,000, non-seasonally adjusted. Leisure and Hospitality, on the other hand, experienced the most significant losses in March, dropping 2.9% in March to 10,100. Other gains occurred in Other Services (4.0%); State and Local Government (3.2%); Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (3.0%); Mining, Logging, and Construction (2.9%); Professional and Business Services (1.6%); and Private Education and Health Services (1.6%). The remaining sectors: Manufacturing, Information, and Financial Activities, showed no over-the-year changes.

Retail sales less food and gasoline rose in the first months of 2024, with both January and February showing positive over-the-year changes. January sales rose 1.7% to reach 229,747,451, and February sales increased 1.8% to 217,487,690.

Residential housing permits in the Prescott MSA have shown strong growth in 2024. So far, all months have shown increases in the total number of permits, with 152 new units authorized in March, a 58.3% increase over the year. January and February showed similar growth of 135.5% to 146 and 33.0% to 125, respectively. Single-family units also showed strong growth in January and March, showing growths of 98.3% to 119 and 54.2% to 148, respectively. February showed no change in the number of single-family units authorized at 92.

Exhibit 1: Prescott MSA Monthly Economic Indicators