New figures from the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity shows the unemployment rate in the state is dropping. It saw the biggest monthly decline this year.
Unemployment dropped by half a percentage point to 5.7% between August and September.
Though still Arizona’s rates are higher than the national average of 4.8%.
While those numbers still aren’t quite to where they were in February 2020 before the pandemic closed many workplaces down, there are other signs showing a growing economy.
In August, Arizona’s average hourly wage in the private sector was at $28.26, more than 2% higher than last year.
On the national level, the quits rate reached a recent high of 2.9%.
The state’s data analyst, Doug Walls, says that is a positive sign because people tend to quit their jobs if they feel they can get a better one quickly.
Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services contributed to this report.
