How badly could the new coronavirus hurt Arizona's economy?

The outbreak of COVID-10 has already hit Arizona's economy, leaving lawmakers, economists and residents to wonder how bad this could get and how much longer the downturn will last.

Two weeks ago, Arizona's unemployment insurance website crashed after it was overloaded by 30,000 people filing for unemployment for the first time. This was eight times the amount of people who had filed the previous week. In a two-week time span, more Arizonans applied for unemployment than during an entire year of the great recession.

While local industries such as construction, grocery stores and some trucking companies have seen minimal impact, industries foundational to Arizona like tourism and recreation, which typically flourish in the spring, are struggling. 

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, business and economy reporters Russ Wiles and Ryan Randazzo share some of the key factors economists are studying to better understand when Arizona might recover and how badly it could suffer. 

Follow Russ Wiles on Twitter: @azmoneynews

Follow Ryan Randazzo on Twitter: @utilityreporter

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices