Are the number of jobs in San Diego on the rise?

Research professor, Lee McPheters of the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, says job growth in San Diego is on the up and up.

Using figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, McPheters looked at non-agricultural job growth in cities with more than 1 million workers from July 2011 to July of this year. He found that San Diego is in a three-way tie with Phoenix and Seattle for 4th place. During that time, McPheters found that the three cities saw a 2.9 percent job growth in the span of a year.

Here's the list:

1. San Francisco with 3.5 percent
2. Houston -- 3.2 percent
3. Denver –- 3 percent
4. Phoenix –- 2.9 percent Seattle –- 2.9 percent San Diego –- 2.9 percent
5. Cincinnati –- 2.8 percent
6. Riverside, Ca –- 2.3 percent
7. Portland, Ore. -- 2.2 percent Boston –- 2.2 percent

And that's not all. McPheters had some good things to say about California's job growth as well. The state saw the second highest job growth rate in the country.

“California is the state that’s really climbing,” stated McPheters in a press release.

According to his findings, the state added 362,000 jobs during that time, not bad considering the state finished in 38th place the previous year. "Big gains came in the professional and business services sectors, which accounted for almost one out of every three new jobs there,” added McPheters.