Jan. 27, 2021
Unemployment in Arizona dipped in December, to 7.5%. That’s higher than the national average of 6.7%. (Photo by Andreas Klinke Johannsen/Creative Commons)
PHOENIX – As COVID-19 pummels away in Arizona, unemployment in the state dipped slightly in December, with the restaurant and entertainment industries continuing to take the hardest hits.
The state unemployment rate was 7.5% last month, compared with 8% in November, putting Arizona among 20 states with the good fortune to post December decreases, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And it’s an improvement from the initial onslaught of the pandemic, when the jobless rate rose to as high as 10% last spring before dropping to 5.9% in July and August. Since then, the numbers have been on a bit of a roller coaster, with the December jobless rate showing higher than the national average of 6.7%.
Unemployment dips in Arizona for December, but jobs are still tight bizjournals.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bizjournals.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Pedestrians entering the country through the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry were greeted by a new piece of street art in August as they walked onto the first block of Terrace Avenue: Big, bold white letters reading âNogalesâ painted over a vividly colord background of thin horizontal lines on a brick wall. âBasically, we wanted the word âNogalesâ because itâs the port, so we wanted a type of welcome, like a postcard,â said Priscilla Nefftys, one of the artists behind the mural, part of a bigger project called âNogalerÃaâ or âNogallery,â which encompasses the cultural identity and history of Ambos Nogales. Nefftys, Gerardo Frias and Tony Plak launched the effort with a grant from the University of Arizona Confluence Center for Creative Inquiry.