In December Arizona gained only 6,300 jobs and closed 2016 with half of the growth seen in 2015 and also fell below the country’s overall pace.

The slowdown in job creation began last year in summer and slowed more by the end of year, which added to the caution economists, who are feeling about the state’s finances as lawmakers prepare the fiscal for the 2018 budget.

The overall tax collections since the summer have grown less than tax collections that were collected a year ago and the incoming of new President Donald Trump’s administration in the Whitehouse has yet to offer policy details, that will help to suggest how the economy might change in the up-coming months.

When compared the job growth in Arizona a year ago, the state saw 1.2 % growth in jobs. While the national growth was 1.4 % at that time. By the end of 2015 the state had seen2.8% growth in jobs.

In monthly reports there were few bright spots, the unemployment rate fell to 4.8% last month, it was the lowest figures since 2008 February.

The state usually subpar wages which continued to post on an above average growth.

Still, the relatively weak job growth left the economists urging lawmakers to avoid big changes to the state's $9.6 billion budget.

Brian Cary an economist for the Salt River Project utility said that “The cause for concern among few of the key indicators. More and more over the few years for several reasons, the economy of the state  has been out of sync with the country’s economy.

As it has been pointed, the employment rate has been sluggish for the past few months and they have been going in the wrong direction,

George Hammond the director of the Economic and Business Research Center in the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona said that last six months of 2016 was such a disappointment in terms of growth in employment. He also said that “he thinks that there was some concern as they embark in 2017. There is a major amount of uncertainty about economic policy and fiscal policy going forward.

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