In an annual ranking released by the Census Bureau on Thursday, Arizona ranked at number five in the country for labor force participation.
The state is second to California, where a labor force of more than 18 million people is the highest in U.S. history.
The state has seen a surge in the construction of new homes and apartments and has seen an increase in the number of new businesses.
The new home construction has pushed up unemployment.
Arizona’s labor force is about 13% higher than the national average, the report said.
That is largely because of the strong economy in the state, which was the only one of the 10 states with a jobless rate above 4.5% last year.
Arizona is one of a few states that has seen some significant growth in the labor force in recent years.
The Arizona economy added about 10,000 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2015, the last full month of the recession.
The Arizona Labor Department is releasing a separate report on Thursday showing the state’s economy grew by 4.1% in the third quarter of this year.
The economy in Arizona grew by 3.9% in 2015, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
