The Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity is reporting projections for 2019 and 2026.

Right now, there are almost 3 million jobs in Arizona with an expected increase of over half a million more by 2026. Over 2 percent of the jobs will be going to Maricopa County while Yavapai County is just short of that at close to 2 percent. Pima County comes in third.

The research administrator, Doug Walls at AEO believes that wages will continue to go up due to the unemployment rate being so low. 

While it appears to be helpful to go to college for a certificate or Associate’s degree program, more advanced degrees are not where the bulk of the available jobs are going to be.

Construction, manufacturing, education, social services and health appear to be the big ticket areas for 2019. Retail is expected to be the least and the highest turnover area is expected to be office assistants. The most unexpected growing area will be in mining due to the increase in copper prices.