High-Frequency Update: 6-21-26

June 21, 2026

By Niaoniao You, EBRC Senior Economic Forecaster

Travel and hotel occupancy increased amid major sports events

Third quarter 2020 forecast update webinar

Arizona initial claims for unemployment insurance declined to 2,893 for the week ended June 13, down from 3,281 the prior week. That was down 23.8% over the year and down 31.4% from 2019.

U.S. weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 219,509 for the week ended June 13, down from 228,955 the prior week. That was down 6.5% over the year but up 6.6% from 2019.

The U.S. hotel occupancy rate climbed to 69.9% for the week ended June 13, up from 67.9% the prior week. That was up 1.9% over the year but down 5.2% from 2019.

U.S. TSA traveler throughput rose to 19.3 million for the week ended June 20, up from 18.7 million the prior week. That was up 0.3% over the year and up 5.8% from 2019.

U.S. movie box office sales slid to $182.6 million for the week ended June 20, down from $258.7 million the prior week. That was down 21.0% over the year and down 11.0% from 2019. New movie releases were down 51.3% from 2019.

Weekly data on Arizona new business applications continue to be published by the Census Bureau, but only on a monthly basis. Weekly data for May ranged from 770 to 880. Overall, new business applications have been trending up but remain a touch below levels reached in 2023.

Data on seated diners at restaurants using the OpenTable app is no longer being updated to compare the current week to 2019 results.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: Border enforcement does affect American workers’ wallets (WSJ 6/16)
Automation / AI: AI can balance government’s books. It can’t understand what they mean. (Governing 6/16)
Demographic / socioeconomic / Census: Reducing poverty among older adults (Brookings 6/17)
Economy: Here’s how much the Iran war cost – and how its effects will linger (NPR 6/17)
Education / early childhood development: School districts are struggling to keep up with surging special education needs (Governing 6/17)
Energy / environment / infrastructure: Arizona could get water from San Diego within 6 months (ADS 6/14)
Federal statistics: A Trump push to cut ‘statistical noise’ could mean less data from the Census Bureau (NPR 6/12)
Housing / real estate: The great American housing shortage is finally forcing a search for solutions (WSJ 6/17)
Mexico/trade: Mexican produce caught in crossfire as USMCA talks heat up (KJZZ 6/18)
Prices/inflation: Higher prices for gas, groceries and flights will likely outlast the Iran war (AP 6/16)
Public finance: Fundamental shifts in state taxes in past century (Census 6/17)
Wages/income/wealth: The biggest factor affecting salary offers and raises? It’s not AI. (PBJ 6/16)
Workforce/employment/labor market: ‘Nobody wants to work anymore’: lifetime labor market experiences and the decline of male LFP in the United States (NBER)

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.

Note: See (http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/wrgp/mogas_home_page.html) for further definitions. Regular Gasoline has an antiknock index (average of the research octane rating and the motor octane number) greater than or equal to 85 and less than 88. Octane requirements may vary by altitude.

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.