For the second month in a row, Arizona’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate dropped half a percentage point to 5.2%. That's better than the same time last year.
A year ago the unemployment rate was at 6.8%.
The leisure and hospitality industry are leading the recovery with most hiring happening in bars and restaurants. Those accounted for more than a third of all private sector jobs added in the past year.
The hospitality sector is still only 88% of what it was in February 2020, showing there is still room for the hiring to continue to increase.
But Arizona is behind the national average, as the U.S. unemployment rate is below 5%.
Arizona's average hourly wages are also more than $2 lower than the national average of about $31 per hour.
