PHOENIX — There is good news to report on the jobs front in Arizona.
According to the state treasurer's office, the Grand Canyon State added 79,200 jobs across all employment sectors in August.
The jump in jobs brought the unemployment rate in Arizona down to 5.9%, which is below the U.S. rate overall of 8.4%.
Ducey's office shared the new numbers in a tweet on Thursday.
"Arizona added nearly 80,000 jobs in August, bringing our unemployment rate below the U.S. rate overall. Gains were posted across ten private sectors, with ‘education and health services’ and ‘trade, transportation and utilities’ at the top," the tweet read.
The number of unemployed Arizonans quickly rose as the coronavirus pandemic stunted the economy due to stay-at-home regulations to slow the spread of the virus.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Arizona's unemployment rate was 4.5% in February, before the pandemic took hold in the state.
The unemployment rate hit 13.4% in April and slowly began to fall. In July the unemployment rate was at 10.6%, according to labor statistics.
