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After hitting an all-time high of $5.388 a gallon in June, gas prices in Arizona have been falling steadily and Thursday they dipped below $4 a gallon for the first time in months.

The average price for gas in Arizona fell to $3.99 a gallon Thursday, the first time in months it has been below $4 - a sharp decrease from the record high of $5.388 hit just two months ago - a surge in price largely driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Read more»

De julio a diciembre, el Departamento del Tesoro envió alrededor de 795,000 pagos mensuales a familias de Arizona, un anticipo del crédito que obtendrán cuando presenten sus impuestos de 2021. Los defensores están preocupados por el impacto que tendrá la pérdida del crédito fiscal en la tasa de pobreza a largo plazo.

Enero fue el primer mes desde el verano pasado que las familias de bajos ingresos de Arizona no recibieron un cheque bajo el programa Child Tax Credit, lo que dejó a los padres luchando por ayuda y a los defensores preocupados por el aumento de la pobreza. Read more»

The expanded federal Child Tax Credit program sent about 795,000 checks a month to low-income families in Arizona from July through December. The payments, more than $2.1 billion in total, ended in December, and advocates worry how the loss will affect families that live paycheck to paycheck.

January was the first month since last summer that Arizona low-income families did not get a check under the expanded Child Tax Credit program, leaving parents scrambling for help and advocates worrying about an increase in poverty. Read more»

The accelerated child tax credit program has sent more than $1.7 billion to families in Arizona, where advocates say the money is typically spent on basics like food, housing, clothing and school supplies.

Arizona families may have seen the last – for now – payment under an expanded child tax credit program, passed earlier this year as part of the pandemic-relief American Rescue Plan, that advocates say has been a “game changer” for low-income families in the state. Read more»

Job growth was experienced in almost every area of the economy as the employment picture continued to improve in Arizona, including the construction sector which grew a scant 1.3% over the last year. The biggest increases were in leisure and hospitality jobs, which grew 17.6% as the sector bounced back from pandemic shutdowns, helping drive the drop in unemployment.

Arizona’s unemployment rate continued its steady decline in October, falling to 5.2%, down a full percentage point from just two months earlier and almost one-third of the state’s pandemic high, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Read more»

A U.S. Air Force sergeant works with a blowtorch during air terminal construction in this 2014 file photo. Construction jobs in Arizona have grown steadily in recent months, as the state slowly works its way back from the sharp increases in unemployment that came with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

More workers than ever before are in Arizona’s labor force and the number of people with jobs has almost reached pre-pandemic levels, according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Read more»

The federal government will begin making direct payments this week to taxpayers with children, an expansion of the child tax credit that will advance taxpayers some of the money they would otherwise have to wait until tax season to get. The payments, of up to $300 per child, will come monthly through December.

Monthly payments from the IRS are set to begin to most American families with children - beginning now through December - part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan and an advance on 2021 tax returns that could mean up to $300 a month per child. Read more»

Highway and bridge construction is just one of the elements in the wide-ranging, $2 trillion American Jobs Plan being pushed by the Biden administration. The proposal, to be paid for with an increase in corporate taxes, would fund everything from broadband access to affordable housing to veterans’ care.

Arizona has 132 bridges and more than 3,100 miles of highway that are in poor condition, the White House said in pitching President Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure proposal. Read more»

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended a moratorium on evictions, set to end March 31, through the end of June. A recent report estimates that almost 114,000 Arizona renters fear they could face eviction in the next two months.

A federal eviction moratorium that was scheduled to end Wednesday has been extended through June 30, good news for the close to 114,000 Arizona renters who think they are at risk of eviction. Advocates welcomed the extension at a time when nearly 170,000 Arizona renters, or about 18% of all renters in the state, are not current on their rent, according to a study by the University of Arizona. Read more»

The Trump administration has proposed several changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, including a plan to limit benefits for able-bodied, childless recipients. But critics fear the changes could have a devastating impact.

Advocates told a House subcommittee Thursday that a Trump administration plan to “close loopholes” in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program would actually slam the door on millions of recipients, including as many as 72,000 in Arizona. Read more»