Unemployment declines for third month

The unemployment rate in the city of Maricopa declined for the third month in a row in March, hitting 12.4 percent, according to information released by the Arizona Department of Commerce last week.

Each month the department looks at each city's workforce size and compares the number of those who have collected or applied for unemployment benefits to determine the city's unemployment percentage.

Maricopa started 2011 with an unemployment rate of 13.3 percent. That number declined to 12.7 percent in February and then 12.4 percent in March.

For the year the city’s average rate is 12.8 percent.

State wide the unemployment rate also declined for the third month in a row, hitting 9.3 percent in March. The statewide rate is 9.6 percent for the year.

Pinal County had an unemployment rate of 11.2 percent in March; for the year the county has an average rate of 11.5 percent.

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