New data shows the Arizona economy is slowing down.
Doug Walls is the labor market information director with the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity.
He says unemployment collection is one of the indicators of slowed job growth. It’s up 26.3% from last year.
"Those that are receiving the benefits are receiving them for a longer period of time. And it could be a number of reasons why they would be staying on unemployment insurance benefits longer. But one of them could be that they're not able to find a job as fast as they had been in years prior," Walls said.
The state’s October unemployment rate sits at 4.2%.
That’s the fifth consecutive monthly increase since the rate hit a record low in May.
