Santa Cruz County's December unemployment rate was 7.0%, ranking it third out of 15 counties in the state.

Unemployment rate is rising nationwide Same level as the price before the new coronavirus infection, has been measured between 3.5% and 4% for most of the past two years. The unemployment rate was 3.7% in January, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Previously, the unemployment rate spiked to 14.7% at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, and the rate remained elevated until late 2021.

Although the national unemployment rate has largely normalized, regional economies vary widely.Using stacker Bureau of Labor Statistics data Analyzing Santa Cruz County's unemployment rate over time and how it stacks up in Arizona and across the nation.

Santa Cruz County's unemployment rate is 3.3 points higher than the national level and 2.7 points higher than the state level. Ranked third among Arizona counties, he ranked first in provisional unemployment rate for December 2023, then broke ties for number of unemployed people. The unemployment rate is 7.3%, which is lower than Apache County, but higher than Navajo County (5.7%).

In real terms, that means an estimated 1,403 of Santa Cruz County's approximately 20,015 working residents are currently unemployed. This is a decrease of 178 people from last month and an increase of 118 people from a year ago. Some economists fear a new recession is on the horizon, with business closures and layoffs causing unemployment to rise.

This article was created using automation across 3,100 counties, boroughs, and parishes, with writing and data reporting by Paxtyn Merten.