Anzhe Zhang
According to the latest Business Formation Statistics report, Arizona saw a small increase in business applications in October compared to September, though job numbers have mostly swung back-and-forth year-round in the 9,000 range.
This follows a broader trend within the state and region that’s been seeing either stable or incremental increases in business applications, particularly compared to the highs of 2021.
In October, Arizona saw an increase of 176 business applications, rising from 9,657 in September to 9,833 last month. While there hasn’t been a sharp increase in job applications like there was in 2021, these numbers also stack favorably compared to this same point last year, when application numbers were at 9,172.
Data suggests that though business applications peaked in 2021, likely due to a combination of holdover applications from 2020 and federal aid programs, 2022 is on track to have more business applications submitted in the state than at any point in the past ten years, excluding 2021.
Nearby states in the Southwest region also saw a similar trend in October, with business applications seeing minor increases, though they remain significantly higher than at any recent point before the pandemic. Utah saw an increase from 5,369 to 5,632 applications last month compared to September; meanwhile, there were only 4,309 applications filed during the same span of time in 2019.
The West region overall saw a sizable increase of 2,480 business applications during the month of October compared to September, jumping from 98,418 to 100,898. These numbers are also higher than the 93,885 applications filed at this same point last year.
Meanwhile, the country saw a total of 432,834 business applications in October, which is a 1.2 percent increase from 425,741 in September. Though 2022 application numbers have remained consistent, they remain lower than 2021’s peak of 500,485 applications in May.
Mining, Unclassified, and Arts and Entertainment were some of the industries that saw an increase in business applications during the month of October, while Utilities and Finance and Insurance experienced drops.
