Unemployment numbers stay stable

The city of Maricopa witnessed a stable unemployment rate of 12.6 percent from November to December, according to numbers released by the Arizona Department of Commerce.

Each month the state 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.

From November to December the city saw the number of employed drop from 16,746 to 16,705 and those collecting unemployment decrease from 2,424 to 2,408. The total size of the workforce also decreased from 19,188 to 19,133

The drop in the workforce marks six consecutive months of decreasing numbers.

Prior to the slide the workforce peaked at a high of 19,344.

Maricopa was not alone in its drop in unemployment. Pinal County, as a whole, decreased from 11.4 percent to 11.3 percent, and the entire state saw its month-to-month numbers increase from 8.7 to 8.8 percent.

For the year the city ended with an average unemployment rate of 12.3 percent, while the county and state respectively had rates of 8.5 percent and 11.1 percent.

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