Arizona
Report: Latinos are main contributors to Arizona’s growing labor force
US jobs report preview: What to watch for
The US is expected to add 175,000 jobs in December, with the unemployment rate moving up to 3.8%.
Bloomberg
Latinos are the main contributors to Arizona’s growing labor force, largely because they tend to be younger and have higher birth rates than the rest of the population, according to a new report.
But because Latinos tend to work in lower-paying jobs and, therefore, on average, earn lower wages than their peers, their economic output lags behind their share of the overall population, the report found.
The report produced by the Latino Donor Collaborative, a nonprofit research group, and Wells Fargo is intended to highlight the economic contributions of Latinos and underscore their potential to help fuel economic growth in the future through investments in education and training.
The report, presented during a symposium of business and community leaders Thursday at the Arizona Public Service headquarters in Phoenix, is also intended to reshape perceptions of Latinos, said Ana Valdez, president and CEO of the Latino Donor Collaborative.
The report “empowers Latinos, empowers who we really are, not just the perception, but the reality of who we are, which is that we are driving the economy. We are a gift to this country. We are the hardest working people,” Valdez told participants in a video address from Los Angeles.
What does the data say?
With nearly 1.05 million workers, Latinos make up about 33% of Arizona’s workforce. Between 2011 and 2021, Arizona’s workforce grew by 400,000 workers. Latinos made up 276,000 of the 400,000. That means Latinos represented 68.6% of the state’s overall workforce growth, the report said.
During that same period, Arizona’s labor force grew by 1.4% annually, the report said. But the Latino labor force grew more than twice as fast, at 3.1%, the report said.
“The main message here is that Latinos are a sizable fraction of the labor force, and they are contributing most of the growth in the labor force in the state,” said Jose Jurado, an ASU economist and co-author of the report with ASU economist Dennis Hoffman.
The reason is “Latinos tend to be much younger and have a higher birth rate than their peers, and that is allowing them to fill up positions in the labor force at a time where the population in the U.S. has become stagnant and the birth rate has decreased,” Jurado said.
‘A national economic tidal wave’
Latinos contribute $72.6 billion to Arizona’s economy, which means that about 17.3% of the state’s economic output is due to Latinos, the report said.
That 17.3%, however, lags behind the Latino share of the overall population, Jurado noted in an interview. Latinos make up about 33% of the state’s 7.4 million people.
That is because Latinos, on average, have lower annual incomes due to lower educational attainment, Jurado said.
Latinos also tend to have fewer assets that pay dividends or interest, he said.
“Closing this complex gap requires decisive public action, including narrowing the educational gap among members of this demographic. Even today, a college degree is associated with lifelong income increases,” Jurado said in an email.
The gap underscores the need to invest in Arizona’s Latino labor force to drive the state’s economy in the future, noted Jeffrey Guldner, president and CEO of Pinnacle West Capital Corp., which owns APS.
“What you see is this change in demographics really means investment we need to make to continue to drive our workforce to reflect the communities that we serve,” Guldner said during a panel discussion. “It’s a really important demographic that we need to pay attention to.”
The data shows that Arizona’s economy is being driven by the state’s growing Latino population, the increasing purchasing power of Latinos and the rising numbers of Latinos attaining education and training beyond high school, said Chris Camacho, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.
Latinos, he said, represent “a national economic tidal wave.”
“My hope is that reports like this get embraced by the broader business and civic community,” Camacho said. “We are one of the states that has this really strong tailwind of really positive demographic change, and that is a small indicator of the broader U.S. picture.”
Reach the reporter at daniel.gonzalez@arizonarepublic.com.
Arizona
2026 NFL draft: 3 potential trades back from No. 3 for Arizona Cardinals
Since the Arizona Cardinals want to trade back from the No. 3 picks, here are three deals that could work.
The Arizona Cardinals have the third pick in the 2026 NFL draft, which begins this week on Thursday. All the reports coming out are saying that they want to trade out of the pick to acquire more draft picks.
But what does a trade look like and who could be involved?
The Kansas City Chiefs are involved in talks at some level. ESPN’s Adam Schefter expects trade talks to heat up this week.
NFL teams use a variation of a trade value chart when it comes to draft picks. Now, what a team actually is willing to give up can be influenced by potential competition with other teams, but we can’t count on that.
Here is the general trade value chart teams use.
Here are some potential deals that could be done.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs have two first-round picks, which would be appealing to the Cardinals, who reportedly want to make a move for quarterback Ty Simpson, and the 29th pick might be just the spot to get him.
The third overall pick is worth 514 points.
The Chiefs’ picks at No. 9 (387 points) and No. 29 (202 points) together are worth 589.
To make up the difference, the Cardinals could give up No. 65 (78 points) for a total of 592 points.
One deal could be:
- Cardinals receive get No. 9 and No. 29 (589 points)
- Chiefs receive No. 3 and No. 65 (592 points)
Another could be:
- Cardinals receive No. 9, No. 29, No. 74 and 2027 third-round pick (653 points + value of future third-round pick, which is 36-78 points)
- Chiefs receive No. 3 and No. 34 (689 points)
The Cardinals keep their third-round pick and the Chiefs essentially move back five spots from No. 29.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys have the 12th and 20th picks but no pick in the second round.
Pick No. 12 is 347 points and No. 20 is 269 for a total of 616.
This deal is close:
- Cardinals receive No. 12, No. 20 (616 points)
- Cowboys receive No. 3, No. 65 (592 points)
New Orleans Saints
The Saints are perhaps a dark horse to move up, although they do not have two first-round picks. They have the No. 8 pick, worth 406 points. Their second-round pick, at No. 42, is worth 142 points.
This deal could work:
- Cardinals receive No. 8, No. 42 (548 points)
- Saints receive No. 3, No. 104 (547 points)
Then the Cardinals could use their two second-round picks to then move back into Round 1 to get Ty Simpson.
They could trade No. 34, No. 42 and No. 65 (395 points) for No. 28, No. 38 and No. 106 (398 total points).
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
Arizona
Dust returns to Phoenix area after hazy weekend – KTAR.com
PHOENIX — Breezy winds kicked up a blanket of dust across the Valley on Sunday, and forecasters say more is on the way this week.
Visibility in Phoenix became so bad on Sunday that Sky Harbor airport stopped flights for over an hour
The wind and dust peaked Sunday afternoon and gradually improved into the evening, said Michael Graves, an air quality meteorologist with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
“You might’ve seen the mountains a bit obscured in the distance,” Graves told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Monday. “A lot of haze in the air.”
By Monday morning, skies had largely cleared and dust levels near the ground had dropped significantly.
Expect more gusty, dusty days this week
The relief may be short-lived.
ADEQ is watching for increased afternoon breezes Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, this time from the west and southwest. Though the winds are expected to be weaker than Sunday’s, Graves said forecasters cannot rule out dust.
“I wouldn’t say windstorm,” Graves said. “I would just say we’ve got some waves coming in. They’re going to increase our afternoon breeziness.”
It’s enough to kick up dry, exposed dirt, which could create pockets of dust. There is a slight chance of broader regional dust transport, Graves said.
It will impact people with asthma, COPD or respiratory conditions the most. Graves advised those with issues to monitor conditions and stay indoors during the dustiest hours.
“If you’re going to be outside, be outside during the times when it’s less dusty or hazy,” Graves said.
Graves noted that spring weather systems typically pass to the north of the Phoenix area, delivering wind and slight temperature drops but little to no rain, a pattern likely to continue.
KTAR News reporter Kellen Shover contributed to this report.
Arizona
Trying to beat the heat: Addressing rising temperatures in Southern Arizona
The University of Arizona and Tucson are known for yearlong warm weather, but when is it too much? With temperature reaching record highs in March, the city of Tucson has already reported increased temperatures for this year.
In the wake of the third annual Southern Arizona Heat Summit, integrating voices throughout the City of Tucson, community stakeholders and experts from UA gather to speak about possible solutions and policies to address rising temperatures and extreme heat.
The summit strives to ensure that the lived experiences of Southern Arizona residents are voiced. The first summit commenced in 2024, in response to the declaration of an extreme heat emergency in Arizona by Gov. Katie Hobbs, as part of a larger plan called Arizona’s Extreme Heat Response Plan.
With representation from organizations such as the American Red Cross, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, Arizona Jobs with Justice, Tucson Indian Center and many more, the summit emphasized the importance of the perspective and concerns of stakeholder groups throughout the community.
The summit included a variety of UA experts, including faculty representing the School of Geography, Development and Environment; the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy; the Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture.
One particular project, led by Ladd Keith at the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning, is a part of the Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory, which is funded by the United States’ Department of Energy to explore extreme heat throughout Arizona. SW-IFL works in collaboration with other national laboratories including those at ASU and NAU.
The team works to analyze extreme heat in the southwest and rural areas, and how communities deal with heat by conducting interviews. The team has also prescribed policy to Pima County and the City of Tucson regarding more effective strategies to combat rising temperatures, such as green stormwater infrastructure.
Anne-Lise Boyer, a post-doctoral researcher with the Climate Assessment for the Southwest, shared that the team particularly analyzed extreme heat in three parts: heat mitigation, heat management and heat governance.
Mitigation deals with prevention through strategies such as green infrastructure and planting trees, while management includes cooling sensors and heat warning systems. Governance allows these measures to be enacted through policy.
In Tucson, some of the most meaningful work the team has engaged in has been drafting the City of Tucson’s Heat Action Roadmap in 2024, which outlines goals to mitigate and mandate extreme heat and its impacts while prioritizing community voices.
The goals of the roadmap include informing and educating citizens of Tucson on the adverse effects of extreme heat and cooling people’s homes and neighborhoods by incorporating heat risk in regional planning. These steps are essential to practicing heat management, especially as the city of Tucson grows.
“I think the most interesting thing about being based in Tucson is that because the heat has been here for a long time, it’s like a laboratory in itself,” Boyer said. “We have all this research and all this collaboration happening with local actors because it’s a pressing issue in Arizona.”
As the annual heat summit recurs, new ideas and perspectives continue to be shared throughout the community. Boyer shared that this year, the Southern Arizona Heat Summit focused on the youth perspective, highlighting middle school and high school students and how heat impacts their everyday lives. Many students spoke about how heat shaped their lives at home, school and sports.
“That’s one of the goals, to have community members participate and give their input in how they wish the city will deal with the heat,” Boyer said.
Boyer and Kirsten Lake, a program coordinator for the SW-IFL team, also shared how the impacts of extreme heat impact some neighborhoods and communities in Tucson more than others, and that their research often evaluates these factors to determine where heat management efforts would make the greatest impact.
“Its important when you’re putting into effect some of these measures, that you make sure you put it where it’s going to make the biggest difference,” Lake said.
The work of the SW-IFL team is not just locally known. The Brookhaven National Lab based in New York deployed a specialized truck to Tucson to collect information on the atmosphere and rising temperatures. The SW-IFL team hosted the Brookhaven team.
Additionally, Keith’s work has led to a guidebook called “Planning for Urban Heat Resilience” which focuses on the adverse effects extreme heat poses to marginalized communities across the country.
“It is so different from place to place and neighborhood to neighborhood because you have to take the whole context into account,” Boyer said. “They recommend first to document the heat impacts in your communities.”
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