Google is leaving the valley and taking with it the unfulfilled promise of high paying jobs. They opened their office in Tempe in 2006 and have since employed approximately 50 people as opposed to the originally projected 600. One of Google’s Senior V.P.’s , Alan Eustace, announced their departure via blog on Sept. 19th citing internal issues. Their official date of closure is Nov. 21st, 2008.

The Arizona economy is not in good shape mainly due to its reliance on housing and tourism - neither of which is generating much revenue these days. Phoenix Business Journal reported on Thursday that the city’s unemployment rate jumped half a percentage point in August from 5.1 to 5.6 percent. This demonstrates a frightening trend considering that the unemployment rate in July was reported at 4.6 percent. Loss of jobs has been reported in retail, construction, and trade-related fields in the month August.