PHOENIX (AP) — State economists' forecasts for job growth in Arizona are improved compared with their projections from six months ago.

The Department of Administration's Office of Employment and Population Statistics predicts a total employment growth of 112,000 jobs in 2012 and 2013. That compares with a May forecast for an increase of just under 106,000 jobs during the same two-year period.

The office says that amounts to modest economic growth, with nearly all sectors expected to increase employment.

The half-year forecast adds that there risks that could add uncertainty. Those include continued weakness in real estate, rising food and petroleum prices, a potential military conflict in the Persian Gulf and Europe's public debt crisis.