Another 31,901 Arizonans applied for first-time unemployment benefits last week, a slight increase over figures from the prior week.

The new figure brings the number of Arizonans who have applied for unemployment during the COVID-19 outbreak to nearly 577,000. That's about 16% of the near 3.6 million Arizonans who are eligible to work.

Gov. Doug Ducey's stay-at-home order for non-essential workers expired Saturday morning, allowing businesses to re-open under set guidelines to continue social distancing.

Businesses face limits on the number of customers they can serve at a time. And, a large number of Arizonans are voluntarily staying home until viral cases recede for more than two consecutive weeks.