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Arizona continued to lose jobs last month, driving unemployment up four-tenths of a percentage point to a seasonally adjusted 4.8 percent, according to figures released Thursday by the state Department of Commerce.

Unemployment in Pima County hit 4.7 percent, up from 4.3 percent in May.

It was the third month in a row in which Pima County has lost jobs. The unemployment rate in April was 3.8 percent.

The number of people working in Arizona last month is 33,000 fewer than it was a year ago — the biggest year-over-year percentage decrease in six years.

Even so, state and local unemployment numbers still are below the national rate of 5.5 percent, which remained steady from May through June.

Since June 2007, unemployment statewide has risen 1.2 percentage points, from 3.6 percent to 4.8 percent. Pima County has seen a slightly larger increase in the same period, going from 3.4 percent to 4.7 percent.

The state lost 49,200 non-farm jobs in June as the continued effects of the housing-related slump were felt. Construction trimmed 700 jobs in June — a trend that has lasted 10 months.

The jobs picture likely will worsen before any recovery, a state economist said.

Dennis Doby, the state Commerce Department's senior director of research administration, pointed to a rising number of first-time unemployment claims — people recently laid off. He said that number has been increasing all year.

"We're probably going to see unemployment continue to trend upward for the rest of the calendar year," he said. Doby said the overall rate will not come down until those initial claims also decline.

Doby said Arizona is not alone. He expects the national unemployment rate also to continue to increase through the end of the year, though it remained at 5.5 percent for June.

While construction employment continues to drop, the related industries of home furnishings, building supplies and garden equipment also continued to show job losses because fewer people are buying new homes.

But Doby was reticent to predict how high the unemployment rate would go.

"In prior downturns, we've certainly approached 6 percent," he said.

It reached 6.2 percent in 2002 — the same year the state faced such a large year-over-year decrease in the number of people working.

Doby said the number of people employed in manufacturing is up by 300 over May, with that fairly well spread among the metal fabrication, electronics and aerospace industries.

"Evidently, some of those high-tech goodies are holding their own," he said. But total manufacturing employment still is 3,900 less than it was a year ago.

Leisure and hospitality sectors of the economy, including hotels, bars and restaurants, lost 4,200 jobs in June, but that's expected during the summer. And Doby noted that the number of people working in those types of businesses still is up by 3,400 from last year.

Yuma had the highest unemployment rate in June, jumping to 15 percent from 14.2 percent in May. Greenlee County had the lowest jobless rate in June, up slightly to 3.8 percent.