Alabama unemployment rate drops in April 2016, adds 16,500 jobs

Alabama’s total unemployment rate continued to fall in April, dropping to 6.1 percent from the March rate of 6.2 percent, according to data released Friday by Governor Robert Bentley‘s office.

Wage and salary employment increased in April by 16,500 jobs, with increases seen in the fields of:

• Trade, transportation, and utilities sector — an increase of 3,600 jobs
• Professional and business services sector — an increase of 3,500 jobs
• Leisure and hospitality sector — an increase of 2,100 jobs

“Every aspect of this month’s jobs data reflects positively on Alabama’s economy,” Governor Bentley said. “More people are working and more jobs are filled. In fact, we are supporting almost 100,000 more jobs now than we were at the height of the recession. We are continuously working to keep that momentum going, with events like last week’s huge job fair in Birmingham that drew more than 5,000 job seekers.”

Wage and salary employment measured 1,971,300 in April 2016. In comparison, when the governor took office in January 2011, the wage and salary employment measured 1,839,400 — a 131,900 job improvement.

“This is a promising month for us,” Alabama Department of Labor Commissioner Fitzgerald Washington said. “There are more people looking for work and more people working this month than there have been all year. The number of people who are unemployed is down. We continue to see growth in our wage and salary employment, surpassing economists’ growth expectations by nearly 8,000 jobs only four months into the year.”

All major Alabama cities, metro areas, and 67 Alabama counties experienced drops in the unemployment rate.

Counties with the lowest unemployment rates are: Shelby County at 4.0%, Elmore County at 4.5%, and Cherokee County at 4.6%.  Major cities with the lowest unemployment rates are: Vestavia Hills at 3.4%, Homewood at 3.7%, and Hoover at 3.9%.