COUNTY BY COUNTY, JOB PICTURE IMPROVES

posted by Amer Taleb

The monthly rise and fall of unemployment in Arizona’s two biggest counties was almost identical in 2011.

With about 2 million people in its labor force, Maricopa County’s unemployment rate dropped from 9.1 percent in January 2011 to 7.7 by the end of the year. Pima County’s rate fell from 9.2 to 7.9 percent. Nearly 500,000 people work in Pima County, according to the Arizona Department of Administration.

Unemployment in all 15 counties dropped by at least half a percentage point, except in Yuma. Yuma County, which relies heavily on agriculture and seasonal workers, started and ended the year at 23.1 percent unemployment. In July, unemployment in its workforce of 99,000 topped 30 percent.

Graham County’s 2.5 percentage points decrease was the largest last year.

As a whole, Arizona’s unemployment rate fell from 9.6 percent to 8.7 percent, according to the ADA. Over the last decade, the lowest rate Arizona experienced was in 2007, when unemployment was under 4 percent.

Shortly after, the market crashed and two years later, it was above 10 percent.