Increasing sales revenue in some important industries are supporting more sales representative jobs AZ ^[1].

Recent figures from the Arizona Department of Revenue ^[2] show that retail sales throughout the state increased by 8.4 percent to $3.77 billion during February, marking the fourth month in a row that retail sales grew in Arizona ^[3].

Between January 2010 and January 2011, retail sales increased by 10 percent, marking the first double-digit growth since June 2006 and ending nearly three years of stagnant growth in Arizona's retail industry. The majority of that growth is being driven by increasing motor vehicle and furniture sales.

"Of particular importance is the pace of growth in consumer durables like automobiles, furniture and fixtures and yes, even contracting, as both new home construction and home improvement have begun to grow again albeit from historically very low levels," Dennis Hoffman, an economist with Arizona State University ^[4], told The Arizona Republic ^[5].

Over the last year, motor vehicle sales increased by 22.5 percent to $445 million, while furniture and home furnishing sales grew by 4.5 percent to $245 million. Tax revenues from contracting increased by 19 percent, while restaurant and bar revenues increased by 5 percent and hotel and motel taxes grew by 2 percent.

The increase in retail sales revenue, which will lead to more jobs and better pay for employees ^[6], is good news for the local economy. The state has continued to see a drop in unemployment and an increase in jobs over the last few months.

During March, Arizona's unemployment rate decreased to 9.5 percent after sitting at 9.6 percent for four consecutive months. However, the state's rate is still above the national average of 8.8 percent.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ^[7], Arizona employed roughly 2,385,300 workers during March, which is up from 2,381,800 workers during February and a .1 percent increase from last year.