Arizona Boasts 8 of the 10 Most Recovered Cities from Pandemic

The economy gained 431,000 jobs in March, and the national unemployment rate is now 3.6%, which is 76% below the peak of 14.7% during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. To provide more context at the city level, WalletHub today released its report on the Cities Whose Unemployment Rates Are Bouncing Back Most, as a follow-up to our report on the States Whose Unemployment Claims Are Recovering the Quickest. The good news for Arizona is that the state in home to eight of the 10 most recovered cities.

The COVID-19 pandemic was disastrous for U.S. employment, but the job market has healed a lot due to the distribution of the vaccine and the loosening of most restrictions. The national unemployment rate is currently at 3.6%, which is 76% lower than the peak of 14.7% during the height of the pandemic, but still slightly above the historic low it experienced prior to the coronavirus crisis. Some cities’ jobs have weathered the storm better than others, though.

In order to identify where workers have been most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, WalletHub compared 180 cities based on five key metrics. It looked at the change in each city’s unemployment during the latest month for which researchers have data (March 2022) compared to March 2019, March 2020, March 2021 and January 2020. WalletHub also considered each city’s overall unemployment rate.

Here are the 20 most recovered cities:

1. Scottsdale, AZ

2. Tempe, AZ

3. Gilbert, AZ

4. Burlington, VT

5. Chandler, AZ

6. Mesa, AZ

7. Glendale, AZ

8. South Burlington, VT

9. Peoria, AZ

10. Phoenix, AZ

11. Warwick, RI

12. Reno, NV

13. Seattle, WA

14. St. Petersburg, FL

15. Tucson, AZ

16. Huntsville, AL

17. Lincoln, NE

18. Billings, MT

19. St. Paul, MN

20. Minneapolis, MN