PHOENIX – Rapid changes caused by a pandemic are on full display in the latest unemployment data issued by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity.
A total of 127,716 Arizonans filed for unemployment in the month of March, with most of those filings – 117,927 – coming in the final two weeks of the month after Gov. Doug Ducey issued an executive order closing all non-essential businesses and limiting restaurants to drive-through and curb-side service only amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, on March 26, the state issued its unemployment report for February, which showed unemployment at 4.5 percent statewide, down four-tenths of a point from the same time last year.
In February, Greenlee County held its place as the county with the lowest unemployment in the state, dropping one-tenth of a point to 3.7 percent. Second lowest is Maricopa County, at 3.8 percent.
Unemployment in Graham County fell by two-tenths of a point, to 4.8 percent, while nearby Cochise County fell four-tenths of a point to 5.4 percent.
Yuma County had the highest unemployment rate in February, at 12 percent, followed by Apache County at 10.2 percent.
