Fewer people are working than before the Great Recession, and the available labor force has fallen...

And this is "consumer spending" kept afloat with massive debt considering that most wages have been stagnant or falling, and the typical American household saw a 36-percent decline in its wealth between 2003 and 2013.

More about housing (yawn) later. The most arresting data come from a new report by the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis. Arizona's per-capita personal expenditures, adjusted for inflation, were virtually flat in 2012 compared to 2000.

Even the local media are admitting that Phoenix is back in a housing slump. I mean no disrespect to hard-working Arizona journalists. But let's face it, the Real Estate Industrial Complex controls the conversation, withholds or doles out ad dollars and can, ahem, ensure that offending columnists are run off. So when the local media admit to a problem involving this sacred cow, head for the bomb shelter.

...Unemployment is higher than in states with similar population...

...Unemployment in metro Phoenix, the state's strongest region, is high but could be worse. As the chart shows, it is higher than comparably sized metros with diverse, quality economies. It is lower than Detroit and California's Inland Empire (another real-estate play)...

...Per-capita personal income growth is falling again in metro Phoenix...

..Average earnings growth for metro Phoenix private-sector workers is falling, too, and not keeping up with inflation...

...On a dollar basis, the problem is even more striking when compared with peer metro areas...

...The difference is that these other metros, against which Phoenix is competing for talent and capital whether it wishes to or not, have high quality economies. Phoenix has a real-estate development economy. And it remains deeply wounded from the crash...

...The new slump is no surprise. Americans are moving less and heavily burdened by debt. The state's population growth is a shadow of its former strength. The "back to the city" movement is benefiting real cities, not suburbs. Private equity snapped up ghost subdivisions and cashed out, leaving continued high inventory and rental slums because demand is so low. As I wrote years ago, the old Arizona sprawl model — with championship golf! — is not coming back.

Because real estate is the economic driver, rather than the consequence of a real economy, Phoenix can't even keep up with such sprawly cities as Houston, Dallas and Oklahoma City. To the extent that people are "priced out" of the coasts and choosing inland cities, they are picking those with more than real-estate hustles.

And still, still, the local-yokel Powers That Be don't have a Plan B.

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You can download the new BEA report on personal consumption spending here. But you'll need to use this inflation calculator to get real, inflation-adjusted dollars.