Arizona 3rd Fastest Economic Recovery From COVID-19: WalletHub

ARIZONA — Arizona's economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic-induced recession is among the best in the nation.

That's the takeaway from financial services company, WalletHub, which ranks the Grand Canyon State third in the country, when it comes to recovery of unemployment claims.

Nationally, Arizona ranks behind Arkansas and Kansas, slotting in ahead of the likes of South Dakota, New Hampshire and Alabama.

WalletHub's report found that the increase in vaccine eligibility and gradual lifting of restrictions on businesses led to a fall in new unemployment claims nationwide, versus where they were a year ago at this point.

The reason that states like Arizona rank highly in WalletHub's report is because of its ability to efficiently vaccinate residents, according to WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez.

“States that are able to more efficiently vaccinate their residents will likely see better job growth than states that are less efficient. The more a state vaccinates, the safer conditions in that state will become and the sooner businesses will be able to fully reopen and have the resources to expand hiring,” Gonzalez said in a release. “Currently, some places are far more efficient than others. For example, New Hampshire has used 90% of its vaccine supply, while Alabama has only used 61%.”

On the flip side, the states that were least recovered include Virginia, New Mexico and West Virginia, which were the bottom three in WalletHub's report.

Read more on WalletHub's report here.