Alabama jobless rate dips to record 2.8 percent

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Alabama’s unemployment rate has dropped to a record 2.8 percent.

A statement released Friday by the state labor agency says the preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for October was down two-tenths of a percent from 3 percent in September.

That’s 1 percentage point better than the jobless rate from a year ago, and it’s well below the national employment rate of 3.6 percent.

The state has gained about 60,000 jobs this year in the civilian workforce.

Officials say the improvement came as Alabama’s manufacturing plants reached a 10-year high for employment. Manufacturing employment grew to 271,600 jobs, and the professional and business services segment has a record-high 259,700 jobs.

Shelby County in metro Birmingham has the state’s lowest jobless rate at 1.8 percent. Wilcox County in rural western Alabama is highest at 6.3 percent.

Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.