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Report: Latinos are main contributors to Arizona’s growing labor force

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Report: Latinos are main contributors to Arizona’s growing labor force


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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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“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.

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AP men’s basketball Top 25: Arizona remains No. 1, Nebraska earns highest ranking since 1991

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AP men’s basketball Top 25: Arizona remains No. 1, Nebraska earns highest ranking since 1991


Arizona maintained its position as the No. 1 team in the Associated Press men’s basketball Top 25 on Monday, earning 42 of 61 first-place votes after a week that included a 96-75 win over No. 16 Alabama.

The Wildcats (9-0), one of seven undefeated teams remaining in Division I, already own five wins over high-major opponents.

There was little movement in the top 10 after a week with few upsets. Michigan (10-0), Duke (10-0), Iowa State (11-0) and UConn (10-1) remained Nos. 2-5, respectively. The only team to move up in the top 10 was No. 7 Gonzaga (10-1), which swapped places with No. 8 Houston (10-1) after adding another top-tier win over UCLA on Saturday.

The greater movement occurred between Nos. 10-25.

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Nebraska (11-0) was the biggest riser, jumping eight spots to No. 15 after Saturday’s 83-80, buzzer-beating win over No. 18 Illinois. The Huskers, the lone power-conference team to never win an NCAA Tournament game, achieved their highest ranking since 1990-91, when they finished the season No. 11.

Illinois (8-3) and No. 23 Florida (6-4) were the biggest fallers, dropping five spots apiece.

Georgia (9-1) was the lone newcomer to the poll at No. 25, while UCLA (7-3) dropped out.

Here’s the full poll, along with my ballot:

Rank

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Team

  

Record

  

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Prev

  

CJ’s vote

  

1

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9-0

1

2

2

10-0

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2

1

3

10-0

3

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5

4

11-0

4

3

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5

10-1

5

4

6

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10-1

6

6

7

10-1

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8

7

8

10-1

7

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10

9

9-1

9

9

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10

9-1

10

8

11

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9-1

11

11

12

9-1

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14

15

13

10-0

15

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12

14

8-2

17

14

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15

11-0

23

13

16

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7-3

12

17

17

8-3

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19

16

18

8-3

13

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18

19

7-3

16

21

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20

7-3

20

20

21

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8-3

21

NR

22

6-3

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22

24

23

6-4

18

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19

24

9-1

24

22

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25

9-1

NR

25

NR

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9-2

NR

23

Others receiving votes: USC 68, Iowa 47, Seton Hall 46, LSU 19, Kentucky 19, UCLA 16, Clemson 14, California 13, Saint Mary’s 12, Arizona State 5, Villanova 5, Notre Dame 4, Indiana 4, Miami (Ohio) 4, Miami (Fla.) 4, Utah State 2, Saint Louis 1, Wisconsin 1.

How good is Nebraska?

I caught Nebraska in person earlier this season when it beat New Mexico and Kansas State in Kansas City, Mo., and I’ve been a believer since. It’s a classic Fred Hoiberg team with a playmaking big, tons of shooting and awesome offensive execution. But what also stood out was how hard the Huskers played, and the defense is better than many of his best teams of the past at Iowa State.

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The numbers are starting to back that up. The Huskers are up to 28th in adjusted defensive efficiency, the highest ranking ever for a Hoiberg defense. All this team was missing was signature wins, and it got two this past week, crushing Wisconsin 90-60 and then winning on the road at No. 18 Illinois on a last-second shot.

Arkansas could keep climbing

Arkansas fell out of my rankings for a few weeks early in the season because its computer numbers were bad after a few close calls against mid-majors. It was obvious the talent was there, but the Razorbacks just weren’t sharp early. They’re starting to play up to their talent, and I moved them up to 14th this week, which is one spot below where I had them in the preseason.

John Calipari’s best teams always have an NBA-level point guard, and he has one in Darius Acuff, who is averaging 17.7 points and 5.7 assists. Calipari also has three big wings who could develop into pros — Meleek Thomas, Karter Knox and Billy Richmond III — and as I wrote about in my weekly rankings, Trevon Brazile is playing the best ball of his career. This team is deeper and more talented than last year’s group, which got hot late and made the Sweet 16. Might still be a little low on this group.

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Best team not ranked: Iowa

Iowa has yet to make the AP Top 25, but I’ve ranked the Hawkeyes the last three weeks and would argue their case was made even stronger last week in a loss. Iowa led Iowa State by 13 in the first half last Thursday at Hilton Coliseum and ended up taking a 4-point loss, which actually moved it up in the computer models. The Hawkeyes now rank 20th at KenPom and Bart Torvik, 19th in the NET and 21st at Evan Miya.

As the Hawkeyes proved against Iowa State, they are a tough out. Similar to Drake last year, Ben McCollum’s second Division I team gives nothing in transition, is hard to score against in the half court and is exhaustingly patient offensively waiting for a great shot to develop.

I can understand why my fellow voters aren’t there yet. With Ole Miss being a disappointment, you could argue Iowa is missing a signature win. The first opportunity is Jan. 3 when Iowa hosts UCLA.





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Arizona baseball pitching coach John DeRouin taking position with Mets, per report

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Arizona baseball pitching coach John DeRouin taking position with Mets, per report


Pitching was a big reason why Arizona made it back to the College World Series last season. The return of many key arms for 2026 makes it likely the Wildcats will again have a stellar staff.

Who guides those pitchers, however, is uncertain.

Michael Lev of the Arizona Daily Star is reporting that pitching coach John DeRouin is leaving the program for a position within the New York Mets organization. DeRouin had been elevated to pitching coach over the summer after Kevin Vance was hired as head coach at San Diego State.

DeRouin, who was a pitching strategist under Vance the previous two seasons, was integral in developing Arizona’s arms, particularly starters Owen Kramkowski and Smith Bailey and reliever Tony Pluta. That trio are among several key pitchers returning from the CWS team, with DeRouin’s promotion factoring in their decisions to stay in Tucson.

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“John is like the pitching whisperer,” head coach Chip Hale said last month.

Hale could promote from within again, elevating Owen Cuffe. Whoever he hires will technically be his fourth pitching coach in five seasons. Dave Lawn handled the role in 2022-23, retained from Jay Johnson’s staff, before Vance was hired in 2024.

DeRouin is the latest in a string of college baseball coaches leaving for pro jobs. The most notable is Tennessee head coach, hired last month as manager of the San Francisco Giants

Arizona begins preseason practice in January ahead of the 2026 opener Feb. 13 against former Pac-12 rival Stanford at a tournament in Surprise.



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Report: Michigan search includes Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham, Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz

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Report: Michigan search includes Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham, Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz


ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The firm hired by Michigan to search for a football coach to replace Sherrone Moore has contacted representatives for Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham and Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Saturday because they were not authorized to share details of the search.

Moore was fired on Wednesday, when the school said an investigation uncovered his inappropriate relationship with a staffer. Two days later, Moore was charged with three crimes after prosecutors said he “barged his way” into the apartment of a woman he’d been having an affair with and threatened to kill himself.

College football’s winning program suddenly needs a coach.

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After the 35-year-old Dillingham was linked to numerous open jobs last month, he said he was not leaving his alma mater.

Two weeks ago, Drinkwitz agreed to a six-year contract that increases his average compensation to $10.75 million annually.

Michigan is hoping to hire a coach this month, helping its chances of retaining recruits and keeping key players out of the transfer portal in January.

Dillingham, who is from Scottsdale, Arizona, graduated from Arizona State in 2013 and started his coaching career as an assistant for the Sun Devils. After coaching at Memphis, he was the offensive coordinator for Auburn, Florida State and Oregon before returning to Arizona State.

Dillingham orchestrated a quick turnaround, leading the Sun Devils to the Big 12 championship and the College Football Playoff for the first time last year.

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Arizona State was 8-4 this season, improving Dillingham’s record to 22-16 over three seasons.

The 42-year-old Drinkwitz is 46-28 in six seasons at Missouri after going 12-1 in a year at Appalachian State. He has built the Tigers into a steady Southeastern Conference program, earning five straight bowl bids.





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