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Phoenix Area Economic Summary Analysis

Part 1

1. Greatest Difference in Unemployment Rates (April 2022 vs. April 2023)

Answer:

Among the selected area with the greatest difference in the unemployment rate between April

2022 and April 2023 is Phoenix city, which has a difference of 0.4 percentage points.

Selected Area and Unemployment Rates:

 Phoenix city: 3.3% (April 2022) to 2.9% (April 2023) = 0.4 difference

 Arizona: 3.5% (April 2022) to 3.2% (April 2023) = 0.3 difference

 Phoenix metro area: 3.1% (April 2022) to 2.9% (April 2023) = 0.2 difference

 Maricopa County: 3.1% (April 2022) to 2.9% (April 2023) = 0.2 difference

 Pinal County: 3.6% (April 2022) to 3.5% (April 2023) = 0.1 difference

2. Over-the-year Changes in Selling Prices Received by Producers

Answer:

For over the year changes in selling prices received by producers, the data trend is very

volatile from April 2020 to April 2023. Dramatic fluctuations were experienced in the growth

by general freight trucking; there was negative growth around – 10% in April 2020, sharp

increase and peaked around 30% in April 2021, and a decline to near 0% in April 2023. The

price increases were more stable across hospitals, ranging from 0% to 10% for most of the

period with a small positive incline that amounted approximately +5% during April 2023.

The most extreme volatility were observed in hotels (excluding casino hotels), which peaked
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at -20% in April 2020, rebounded to around a 30% surge in April 2022, and then brought in

around about a 5% run in April 2023. The pattern of this recovery coincides with the extent

of the damage imposed by pandemic restrictions and the resurgence of the hospitality

industry.

3. Highest Difference in Average Hourly Wages for Selected Occupations

Answer:

Two Occupations with Highest Difference:

The two occupations with the largest difference between them in average hourly pay

(excludes 'All Occupations') are Human Resources Managers and Drywall and Ceiling Tile

Installers.

Phoenix Metro Area Wages:

 Human Resources Managers: $65.94 per hour

 Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers: $24.38 per hour

 Difference: $41.56 per hour

United States Wages:

 Human Resources Managers: $70.07 per hour

 Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers: $27.83 per hour

 Difference: $42.24 per hour

This substantial wage gap is due to the strong disparity between the educational demands,

responsibility, and skills between the management positions and skilled trades in the

construction industry. At the national level, wage disparity is slightly larger than within the
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Phoenix metro area, which may indicate that the Phoenix market has a somewhat more

compressed wage structure for these occupations relative to the national average.

4. Second Maximum Difference in Average Annual Spending

Answer:

Category with Second Highest Difference:

For 2020-2021, "All other items" has the second highest average annual difference in

spending between Phoenix metro area and the United States.

Average Annual Expenditure Amounts:

 Phoenix metro area: $9,871

 United States: $11,062

 Difference: $1,191

This category is a very large portion of household spending beyond housing, transportation

and food as a major categories. The difference indicates that Phoenix residents spend a

smaller proportion of their budget on miscellaneous items than national averages, which

could be due to regional cost covariates or different consumer preferences in the Phoenix

metropolitan region. According to the data, residents in the Phoenix metro area spend an

average of 10.8 percentage points less on “All other items” than the national average.

5. Over-the-Year Change in Prices Paid by Urban Consumers

Answer:

All Items Category Prices:

 Phoenix Metro area: 7.4% increase

 U.S. City average: 4.9% increase

Comparing Both:

Among all measured categories, inflation was markedly higher in the Phoenix Metro area

than the national average, with the All Items category experiencing a 2.5 percentage point

higher increase in the Phoenix Metro area compared with the U.S. average. This implies that

residents of the Phoenix metropolitan region experienced more intense price pressures than

the average American household during this time.

PART 2

Question 1: Comparison of Compact and Special Report Media Outlets

Compact Media Outlet:

 Rectangle Color: Yellow

 News Value and Reliability Description: Opinion OR Wide Variation in Reliability

 Political Affiliation Category: Hyper-Partisan Right

 Bias Category: RIGHT

Special Report Media Outlet:

 Rectangle Color: Green

 News Value and Reliability Description: Mostly Analysis OR Mix of Fact Reporting

and Analysis

 Political Affiliation Category: Skews Right

 Bias Category: RIGHT

Question 2: Media Outlet in Yellow Rectangle, Hyper-Partisan Left, Furthest Left

The Young Turks (TYT) – a media outlet in the Yellow rectangle (Opinion OR Wide

Variation in Reliability) which falls in the Hyper-Partisan Left portion and leans the furthest

Left.
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Question 3: Real Clear Media Outlet Analysis

 The Real Clear Media outlet falls within the Yellow rectangle.

 The Real Clear Media outlet falls under the Analysis OR Wide Variation in

Reliability News Value and Reliability description.

 The Real Clear Media outlet falls under the Skews Right Political Affiliation

category.

 The Real Clear Media outlet falls under the RIGHT Bias category.

Question 4: Media Outlets in Green Rectangle, Between Middle and Skews Right,

Leaning Right

The media outlets that fall within the Green rectangle (Mostly Analysis OR Mix of Fact

Reporting and Analysis), fall between the Middle and Skews Right categories, and lean Right

are:

 WSJ

 FOX (Web) Business

 CT World
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 The Dispatch

Question 5: Media Outlets in Yellow Rectangle, Analysis OR Wide Variation in

Reliability, Skews Left, Left Bias

The media outlets in the Yellow rectangle that fall ONLY within Analysis OR Wide

Variation in Reliability, Skews Left, and fall in the Left Bias categories are:

 Vanity Fair

 Vice

 MSNBC (TV)

 MSNBC (WEB)

 The Lead

 CNN (TV)

 PEN AMERICA

 Washington Post

 TMZ
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