Pinal County ranked No. 1 in Money magazine's list of the nation's counties with the highest job growth.

But if you're looking for work, don't load up the moving van just yet: The number of jobs may have soared in Pinal County, but so did the population competing for them. So did housing foreclosures. And unemployment is lower in some other Arizona counties.

In a feature called "Where the jobs are," the magazine says that between 2000 and 2008 jobs in Pinal County increased by 95.9 percent. Job growth in Rockwall County, Texas, ranked second at 84.9 percent. Kendall County, Illinois, came in third at 83.4 percent.

Jay Butler, an Arizona State University professor who analyzes home sales and construction activity, said he thinks Pinal residents "would be in shock" to hear they lead the nation in new jobs.

The prison and mining industries saw growth in recent years but more recently "both have taken big hits," he said.

The county, which stretches between the metropolitan areas of Phoenix and Tucson, has about 50,000 non-farm jobs.

Unemployment in June was 11.2 percent, compared to the 8.7 percent Arizona average and the 9.5 percent U.S. average.

In the first quarter of the year, Pinal recorded 2,960 home transactions of which 1,260 were foreclosures, Butler said. Foreclosures are "sort of slowing, but they started earlier there."

The median price of a home was $105,000, down from $214,000 a few years ago.

To really compare where jobs are plentiful, you'd also have to look at the type of jobs and what they pay, Butler said.

Pinal County Communications and Public Affairs Director Heather Murphy said the county is one of the fastest- growing in the nation and has attracted some major retailers and other businesses.

They include the Promenade at Casa Grande, a shopping center now home to Dillard's, other stores and a multiplex theater. Corrections Corp. of America opened a new prison last year in Eloy.

"I certainly think all the ingredients are here for a robust growth in the number of jobs," Murphy said.

Union Pacific has almost finished doubling the railroad line through the county, she said. And among the better-paying jobs are those created by Resolution Copper in its bid to open a major mine near Superior under a proposed federal land exchange.

Resolution already has about 70 full-time employees and more than 220 contract workers in Pinal doing shaft construction, feasibility studies and other preliminary work, said Jennifer Russo, a spokeswoman for the company. She said employment will boom to more than 5,800 direct and indirect jobs if the project proceeds.

The Arizona Department of Commerce estimated that the county population over the past eight years grew by 95.1 percent.

Some would welcome more opportunity. In a 2007 study commissioned by economic development boosters in Pinal County, researchers interviewed more than 1,400 residents.

The primary reason given by those who were unemployed: They couldn't find a suitable job.

* This article also was published Saturday in the Star's Business section. Contract reporter Enric Volante at 573-4129 or evolante@azstarnet.com.

Originally published by ENRIC VOLANTE, ARIZONA DAILY STAR.

(c) 2009 Arizona Daily Star. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.