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Workforce Resilience Score · Q3 2026

Arizona shed 28,305 covered jobs in a year.

Covered employment was -0.9% in 2026 Q1 versus 2025 Q1, and every one of 15 counties has a higher unemployment rate than a year ago.

Arizona Labor Market MonitorSep 16, 2026Arizona · 15 countiesPilot edition · unsponsored

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The statewide read

Fewer jobs, higher pay, more people looking.

Employment and wages are 2026 Q1 (preliminary); unemployment is Jul 2026, not seasonally adjusted.

3.16M

covered jobs, 2026 Q1 · -0.9% y/y

$1,473

average weekly wage · +4.3% y/y, nominal

5.4%

county unemployment, job-weighted · +0.6 pp y/y

Breadth

The softening is everywhere, not in one place.

15 of 15

counties with higher unemployment than a year ago

4 of 15

counties adding covered jobs year over year

Workforce Resilience Score

Maricopa leads. Mohave trails.

A 0–100 composite of current conditions, wages and industry, shock resilience and workforce supply, ranked within Arizona.

  1. 1Maricopa County75B
  2. 2Graham County63C
  3. 3Pima County63C
  4. 4Coconino County62C
  5. 5Pinal County61C
  6. 6Santa Cruz County52C
  7. 7Greenlee County52C
  8. 8Gila County50C
  9. 9Cochise County48C
  10. 10Yuma County41D
  11. 11Yavapai County39D
  12. 12Navajo County39D
  13. 13La Paz County38D
  14. 14Apache County37D
  15. 15Mohave County32D
15 of 15 grades hold under ±25% weight perturbation. Percentile-based within the state; not comparable to the national ERI.

By industry

Health care & social assistance grew. Almost everything else shrank.

Year-over-year change in private-sector jobs, 2026 Q1 vs. 2025 Q1, sectors with 5,000+ jobs.

  • Health care & social assistance
    +3,477
  • Management of companies
    +1,479
  • Mining, quarrying, oil & gas
    +698
  • Arts, entertainment & recreation
    +603
  • Utilities
    +484
  • Manufacturing
    +140
  • -355
    Transportation & warehousing
  • -583
    Agriculture, forestry, fishing
  • -996
    Finance & insurance
  • -1,056
    Educational services
  • -1,442
    Real estate
  • -2,064
    Information
  • -2,858
    Other services
  • -3,649
    Wholesale trade
  • -3,931
    Construction
  • -4,429
    Administrative & waste services
  • -4,710
    Accommodation & food services
  • -4,964
    Professional & technical services
  • -5,646
    Retail trade
BLS QCEW, private ownership; county cells summed where disclosable in both years.

Movers

Where it changed most.

Unemployment, Jul 2026 vs. a year earlier

Smallest increases

  • Graham County

    now 5.2%

    +0.4 pp

  • Maricopa County

    now 4.7%

    +0.5 pp

  • Apache County

    now 9.5%

    +0.5 pp

Largest increases

  • Yuma County

    now 18.9%

    +2.1 pp

  • Mohave County

    now 6.9%

    +1.5 pp

  • Yavapai County

    now 5.7%

    +1.1 pp

Covered jobs, 2026 Q1 vs. 2025 Q1

Fastest growth

  • Santa Cruz County

    14,797 jobs

    +2.7%

  • Gila County

    15,506 jobs

    +1.0%

  • Pinal County

    81,073 jobs

    +0.7%

Steepest decline

  • Cochise County

    33,459 jobs

    -5.8%

  • Apache County

    16,233 jobs

    -4.7%

  • Coconino County

    63,448 jobs

    -4.5%

Small counties swing on modest absolute changes; read the percentage alongside the job count.
How this is calculated, and what it does not say›

Indicators are percentile-ranked among Arizona's 15 counties, oriented so higher is stronger, averaged within four dimensions and weighted current conditions 30%, wages & industry 30%, shock resilience 25%, workforce supply 15%.

Sources carry different vintages by design and are never combined inside one figure. County LAUS is not seasonally adjusted, so comparisons are same-month year-over-year.

Wages are nominal and reflect industry mix as well as pay rates. The latest QCEW quarter is preliminary and subject to revision.

Descriptive, not causal. Nothing here estimates the effect of a policy or program.

Dig deeper

Economic Resiliency Index

The national index whose recovery dimension feeds this score

Methodology framework

By county

Your county, on one page.

Every county gets its own page and a one-page brief to download and share.

MaricopaBGrahamCPimaCCoconinoCPinalCSanta CruzCGreenleeCGilaCCochiseCYumaDYavapaiDNavajoDLa PazDApacheDMohaveD

Data in this edition

  • BLS LAUS county unemployment through Jul 2026 (preliminary), not seasonally adjusted
  • BLS QCEW covered employment and wages, 2026 Q1 (preliminary) vs. 2025 Q1
  • Census ACS 2022 5-year estimates
  • Alt-30 ERI v1.0.0 recovery-dynamics sub-scores

Sources carry different vintages and lags by design and are never combined inside one figure. The write-up's caveats section says what the index does and does not claim.

Cite as

Morgan Harman, MBA and Dallin Overstreet, PhD (2026). Arizona Labor Market Monitor, Q3 2026 (v0.1.0). Alt-30. https://portal.alt-30.com/reports/labor-monitor

This edition is unsponsored. Sponsorship and white-label distribution are available for future editions; the analysis layer is never touched by sponsor branding.