State jobs picture grim, but mines are hiring
· October 3, 2008 · Print This Article
Want a job? You might want to consider working in an open-pit copper mine.
A new report by the Arizona Department of Commerce estimates that between 2008 and 2009, the state will lose about 50,000 jobs — almost 2 percent of its total non-farm employment.
One of the few bright spots — if you can call it that — is the natural resources and mining industries. They’re going like gangbusters, with a projected growth of 14 percent this year, and 7.1 percent the next.
The copper industry is even hotter, with employment up 25 percent this year, according to the Arizona Mining Association.
While that might sound like a lot of new jobs, it really isn’t: all told, the copper industry only employs about 10,000 people in the state. Nevertheless, since many of those 10,000 folks are operating really, really, really big shovels, trucks and other machines, they are tearing stuff up like never before.
John Collins Rudolf
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State Jobs Picture Grim, But Mines are Hiring…
Want a job? You might want to consider working in an open-pit copper mine. A new report by the Arizona Department of Commerce estimates that between 2008 and 2009, the state will lose about 50,000 jobs — almost 2 percent of its total non-farm employmen…