With California on track to overtake Germany as the world’s fourth largest economy, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on 2023’s Best & Worst State Economies, as well as expert commentary. In order to determine America’s top economic performers, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 28 key indicators of economic … [More]
U.S. Employers Added 339,000 Jobs in May, Defying Expectations of a Slowdown
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 339,000 in May, and the unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage point to 3.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in professional and business services, government, health care, construction, transportation and warehousing, and social assistance. This news release presents … [More]
Small Businesses Have Record High Levels of Job Openings Despite Struggle to Find Qualified Workers
According to NFIB’s monthly jobs report, 44% (seasonally adjusted) of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, down one point from April but still 20 points higher than the 49-year average reading. The percent of owners reporting labor quality as their top small business operating problem remains elevated at 24% and 10% of owners reported … [More]
Home Price Gains Slow to Lowest Rate on Record in May, Says Realtor.com
Home prices rose slightly in May, but price growth slowed to the lowest rate on record since 2016, suggesting home prices may not see a new peak in 2023, according to the Realtor.com Monthly Housing Trends Report released today. Additionally, home inventory growth continues to slow and is declining in many metro areas across the country as fewer sellers list their homes than … [More]
Industrial Construction Update: Is The Market at Risk for Oversupply?
Cushman & Wakefield has released its new Industrial Construction report, showing demand losing speed as construction completions peak, setting the stage for a return to a more balanced market. The report press release is also attached. Throughout the current industrial expansion, which began in 2012, the pipeline has often struggled to keep pace with demand throughout … [More]
Investor Home Purchases Fell a Record 49% YOY in the First Quarter, Says Report
Real estate investors purchased 48.6% fewer homes in the first quarter of 2023 than they did a year earlier as elevated interest rates along with declining rents and housing values ate into potential profits, according to a new report from Redfin, the technology-powered real estate brokerage. That’s the largest annual decline on record, and outpaced the 40.7% drop in … [More]
Three Innovative Phoenix Biotech Businesses Secure Spot at 2023 BIO International Convention
Phoenix-based start-ups ElectraTect, FAKnostics, and Reference Medicine are among the 50 global companies selected to participate in the highly acclaimed Start-Up Stadium at the 2023 BIO International Convention. This unique platform provides seed-stage companies with an … [More]
Overall U.S. Mortgage Delinquency Rate Drops to All-Time Low in March, Says Report
CoreLogic, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, today released its monthly Loan Performance Insights Report for March 2023. For the month of March, 2.6% of all mortgages in the U.S. were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due, including those in foreclosure), representing a 0.3 percentage point decrease … [More]
Small Business Jobs Growth Holds Steady in May
The rate of small business job growth was unchanged from April for the month of May, according to the latest Paychex | IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch. The national Small Business Jobs Index — which measures the rate of small business job growth in the U.S. — stands at 99.45, a 0.04% decrease from April. Meanwhile, hourly earnings growth for U.S. workers slowed to … [More]
Out-of-Town Moves Have Fallen 6% from a Year Ago, Phoenix Tops the List of Cities to Move Into
The number of Redfin.com users looking to move to a different part of the country is down 6% from a year earlier, the biggest drop on record, as the overall U.S. housing market remains cool in the face of high mortgage rates and economic uncertainty. This is according to a new report from Redfin, the technology-powered real estate brokerage. That’s a big swing from a year ago … [More]
Phoenix’s Office Market Slows
As high inflation and rising interest rates have begun to influence the real estate market in increasingly impactful ways, Phoenix’s office market has shown a constant slowdown since the beginning of 2023, CommercialEdge data shows. Despite the 2.0 percent growth in office-using jobs on a year-over-year basis as of February, the metro closed the year’s first quarter … [More]
Waymo and Uber Partner to Bring Waymo’s Autonomous Driving Technology to the Uber Platform
Waymo and Uber are excited to announce a new, multi-year strategic partnership to make the Waymo Driver available to more people via the Uber platform starting in Phoenix. Since both companies were founded in 2009, Waymo and Uber have in their own ways each revolutionized access to mobility. Now, we’re partnering to bring together Waymo’s world-leading autonomous driving … [More]
Arizona, California, and Nevada Governors Announce Lower Basin Plan to Protect Colorado River
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo announced that the Colorado River Lower Basin States have developed a plan to conserve 3 million acre-feet over the next three years to protect the Colorado River system. “The Lower Basin Plan is the product of months of tireless work by our water managers to develop an agreement … [More]
VC Partners with Flinn Foundation to Fuel Growth in Arizona Bioscience and Healthcare Sectors
Xcellerant Ventures welcomes the Flinn Foundation as a limited partner in its Xcellerant Venture Capital Fund I. Xcellerant Ventures is a venture capital firm investing in early and seed stage startups within the HealthTech and MedTech sectors. Xcellerant seeks to invest in dynamic founding teams with strong intellectual property portfolios that XVC believes will transform … [More]
University of Idaho to Create Not-for-Profit to Acquire University of Phoenix
The Idaho State Board of Education sitting as the Board of Regents of the University of Idaho granted approval for the creation of a not-for-profit entity that will acquire the operations of the University of Phoenix. This represents a historic opportunity to improve student access to higher education, a monumental broadening of U of I’s reach to nontraditional adult learners, … [More]
New Arizona Mega Resort Debuts Unprecedented Live Music Venue
VAI Resort unveils the latest addition to its upcoming $1 billion destination resort in Arizona: the VAI Amphitheater. Scheduled to open in 2024, this world-class venue is designed with music and live entertainment at its core, embodying the resort’s mission to become a top destination for music lovers and performing artists. With a $40 million stage, cutting-edge design, and … [More]
Voters Decline to Move Tempe Entertainment District Forward
An Arizona Coyotes hockey arena, hotels, apartments, restaurants and retail will not move forward at Priest Drive and Rio Salado Parkway now that residents have voted to decline the Tempe Entertainment District. Tempe voters have spoken and we respect their voices. The Tempe City Council's unanimous vote in November 2022 to move the Tempe Entertainment District forward, … [More]
State Cracks Down on Fraudulent Medicaid Providers
Governor Hobbs, alongside Attorney General Mayes, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community President Martin Harvier, AHCCCS Director Carmen Heredia, representatives from 13 tribal nations, and law enforcement, announced actions against over 100 Medicaid behavioral health residential and outpatient treatment service providers believed to be engaging in fraud. These providers … [More]
