Labor market

• Data from the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity show Cochise County’s nonfarm employment averaged 33,211 jobs during the first nine months of 2026, down 978 jobs, or 2.9%, from the same period in 2025.
• Total private employment in Cochise County averaged 23,200 jobs, a decrease of 433 jobs, or 1.8%. Government employment averaged 10,011 jobs, down 544, or 5.2%.
• Government accounted for 55.7% of the county’s overall employment decline. Private industries accounted for the remaining 44.3%.
• Goods-producing employment averaged 2,667 jobs, down 33, or 1.2%. Mining and construction averaged 2,067 jobs, also a decline of 33, or 1.6%. Manufacturing was the only industry with no year-over-year change. It averaged 600 jobs in both periods.
• Service-providing employment, the largest portion of the Cochise County economy, averaged 30,544 jobs. That was 944 fewer jobs, or 3%, than during the first nine months of 2025.
• Private service-providing employment averaged 20,533 jobs, falling by 400, or 1.9%. Performance varied substantially among the industries within this category.
• Trade, transportation and utilities recorded the largest numerical gain among Cochise County’s detailed industries. Employment averaged 6,500 jobs, an increase of 89, or 1.4%.
• Information employment experienced the sharpest percentage decline. The industry averaged 700 jobs, down 211, or 23.2%.
• Financial activities averaged 1,000 jobs, a decrease of 22, or 2.2%. Professional and business services averaged 3,489 jobs, losing 189, or 5.1%.
• Private education and health services provided one of the few gains. The industry averaged 4,689 jobs, up 22, or 0.5%.
• Leisure and hospitality averaged 3,367 jobs, a reduction of 144, or 4.1%. Other services moved in the opposite direction, increasing by 56 jobs, or 7.6%, to an average of 789.
• Other services posted Cochise County’s largest percentage gain, although the industry’s relatively small size meant that its growth could offset only a limited portion of the countywide decline.
• The public sector remained the principal source of weakness in Cochise County. Federal government employment averaged 3,867 jobs, a loss of 400, or 9.4%.
• State and local government employment averaged 6,144 jobs. That was 144 fewer jobs, or 2.3%, than during the same nine months of 2025.
• The figures show that Cochise County’s employment decline was concentrated rather than universal. Trade, transportation and utilities; private education and health services; and other services added a combined 167 jobs. Manufacturing remained unchanged.
• Those results were outweighed by losses in government, information, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, financial activities, and mining and construction.
• Through the first nine months of 2026, Cochise County’s labor market therefore presented a mixed but generally weaker picture. Several private industries demonstrated resilience, but their gains were not sufficient to overcome substantial government losses and declines across several service industries.

 See spreadsheets, below, for monthly and annual Cochise County nonfarm job numbers by industry/sector. 

• Cochise County's unadjusted unemployment rate averaged 6.2 percent through the first nine months of 2026, well above the 4.9 percent average for Arizona and 4.3 percent for the United States according to data from the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity.
• The county's rate is up from 5.2 percent over the same nine months of 2025. Arizona's average rose from 4.3 percent, while the national average held steady at 4.3 percent.
• In other words, Cochise County's rate climbed about a full percentage point, roughly twice the statewide increase, while the nation saw almost no change.
• The county's gap with Arizona has widened to 1.3 points, from 0.9 points a year ago. Cochise County is now about two points above the nation, roughly double last year's gap.
• Even Arizona's own average, at 4.9 percent, now sits 0.6 points above the national figure. That gap was essentially zero a year ago.
• Every incorporated community in the county shows the same upward pattern.
• Sierra Vista, the county's largest city, has the lowest rate among the larger communities at 5.9 percent, up from 4.9 percent a year earlier. It still runs a full point above Arizona and 1.6 points above the nation.
• Benson averaged 7.5 percent for the first three quarters of the year, up from 6.3 percent in 2025. That is about 1.3 points above the county average.
• Bisbee averaged 8.5 percent, compared with 7.2 percent a year ago. The city is 3.6 points above the state average.
• Douglas, the county's second-largest labor market, averaged 9.5 percent unemployment, up from 8.1 percent. That is nearly double the Arizona rate and more than double the national rate.
• Huachuca City averaged 10.3 percent, up from 8.7 percent last year.
• Willcox has the highest rate in the county at 11.0 percent, up from 9.3 percent. That is about two and a half times the national average. Willcox and Huachuca City are the only Cochise County municipalities above 10 percent.
• Increases over last year ranged from roughly one point in Sierra Vista to more than 1.5 points in Huachuca City and Willcox. Each of those places saw a larger rise than Arizona's 0.6 points, and all far outpaced the nation's.
• Douglas and Bisbee fell in between, with increases of 1.5 and 1.3 points. Benson's rise was 1.2 points. No community in the county saw its rate improve compared with a year ago.
• Tombstone is an outlier with unemployment at 0.5 percent, up slightly from 0.4 percent. Its labor force is under 500 people, so estimates there are less reliable and should be read with caution.
• Taken together, the figures point to a clear pattern. Five of the county's seven incorporated communities are averaging 7.5 percent or higher unemployment. That is more than 2.5 points above Arizona's average and at least 3 points above the nation's.
• The spread within the county is wide. Willcox's rate is nearly twice Sierra Vista's, and about 4.8 points above the county average.
• For job seekers and employers, those gaps matter. A rate above 10 percent, as in Willcox and Huachuca City, means more than one in ten people in the labor force is looking for work.
• With three months left in the year, the full-year averages will show whether Cochise County can begin to close the gap with the state and the nation.

See spreadsheets, below, for monthly and annual Cochise County, city, and town labor market data (civilian labor force, employment, unemployment & unemployment rate).