Arizona led the nation in employment growth last year and leading the way in contributing those new jobs as small business. More than 60 percent of new jobs came from businesses with the less than 250 employees, according to Arizona Blue Chip Economic Forecast.

Firms with fewer than 20 employees accounted for 18 percent of all new Arizona jobs in 2006. Companies with 20 to 99 employees contributed about 30 percent of the total. Businesses employing 100 to 249 accounted for 14.6 percent of new jobs last year; 250 to 499, 17.3 percent; 500 to 999, 1.3 percent; and 1,000-plus, 16.6 percent.

The Arizona Blue Chip Economic Forecast includes the consensus forecast of economists from 19 groups and institutions. It is published by the JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center, an affiliate of the L. William Seidman Research Institute in the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

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