High-Frequency Update: 3-9-25

March 9, 2025

By George W. Hammond, EBRC director and Eller research professor

Arizona initial claims for unemployment insurance rose last week

Third quarter 2020 forecast update webinar

Arizona initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 3,137 for the week ended March 1, up from 2,803 the prior week. That was down 3.7% over the year and down 4.2% from 2019.

U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance also rose for the week ended March 1, hitting 224,689. That was up from 220,856 the prior week and up 4.8% over the year. Claims were also up 1.9% from 2019.

The U.S. hotel occupancy rate rose to 62.8% for the week ended March 1, up from 60.3% the prior week. That was up 0.5% over the year but down 3.8% from 2019.

U.S. movie box office sales dropped to $74.1 million for the week ended March 6, down from $101.1 million the prior week. That was down 52.5% over the year and down 51.1% from 2019. New movie releases were down 36.9% from 2019.

U.S. TSA traveler throughput fell to 16.4 million for the week ended March 1, down from 16.7 million the prior week. That was down 0.7% over the year but up 7.5% from 2019.

Weekly data Arizona new business applications will continue to be published by the Census Bureau, but only on a monthly basis. In January, weekly new business applications ranged from 1,030 to 110, with the low weekly total likely reflecting the impact of the New Year's Day holiday. Overall, new business applications remain elevated compared to levels before the pandemic.

Data on seated diners at restaurants using the OpenTable app is no longer being updated to compare the current week to 2019 results.

As of October 15, 2022, Google stopped updating mobility data.

Key News Articles and Research (subscription may be required)

Curated by Valorie Rice, Senior Business Information Specialist

Arizona and general topics: Building a long-term North American semiconductor ecosystem (Brookings 3/5)
Automation / AI: A place for human talent in the AI age (IMF)
Demographic / socioeconomic / Census: Boomerang migration: which regions have the most, and can it make a difference? (FRBC)
Economy: Trump’s tariffs and job cuts fuel Main Street uncertainty (CSM 3/6)
Education / early childhood development: Costs of child care now outpace college tuition in 38 states, analysis finds (Stateline 3/5)
Energy / environment / infrastructure: Trump’s push for more copper could boost proposed Tucson mine (ADS 2/28)
Housing / real estate: 5 Key supply-side headwinds hurt housing supply NAHB tells Congress (NAHB 3/4)
Commercial real estate: Trump admin’s DOGE set to auction off Tucson Federal Building (Tucson Sentinal 3/4)
Mexico/trade: New tariffs drive fears of rising car prices in the U.S. (NPR 3/4)
Prices/inflation: Firms’ inflation expectations have picked up (FRBNY 3/5)
Public finance: Feds reimburse only a fraction of Arizona costs to imprison convicted criminals who are in US illegally, with no sign of change despite Trump’s immigration crackdown (Cronkite 2/28)
Wages/income/wealth: Income inequality and economic growth in United States counties: 1990s, 2000s and 2010s (FRBC)
Workforce/employment/labor market: The job market is still pretty solid – but there are warning signs ahead (NPR 3/7)

Weekly Indicators

Use your cursor as a tooltip and click on charts to view values. Click on the names of indicators listed at the bottom any chart to switch them on/off to view fewer at one time and make comparisons. Icons allow you to download and share.

Note: The official initial claims for unemployment insurance numbers for the U.S. are released every Thursday morning covering the week ending on the previous Saturday.

The U.S. Census Bureau continues to produce weekly estimates; however, the weekly estimate files are published as part of the Monthly Business Formation Statistics (BFS) Release.One key dataset with these estimates is High-Propensity Business Applications, a subset of total weekly business applications in Arizona that measures the number of applications with a high-propensity of turning into a business with a payroll, based on various factors. These data reflect weekly applications for Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) in Arizona which are likely to result in employment and wages. These include applications: (a) from a corporate entity, (b) that indicate they are hiring employees, purchasing a business or changing organizational type, (c) that provide a first wages-paid date (planned wages); or (d) that have a NAICS industry code in manufacturing (31-33), retail stores (44), health care (62), or restaurants/food service (72). Applications for EINs occur before the jobs and wages are added, so this is a leading indicator. Read more about the Business Application dataset from the U.S. Census Bureau.