On Friday, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey announced that Alabama’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted November unemployment rate was 2.7%, unchanged from October but below November 2021’s rate of 3.1%. 63,043 persons were formally recognized as unemployed in November, up from 61,721 in October; but well below the 69,688 unemployed in November 2021.
“It is encouraging to see that Alabama’s economy is supporting more jobs today than ever in our 203-year history,” said Gov. Ivey. “While we continue maintaining a low unemployment rate, the fact that our businesses are growing jobs is certainly something to be grateful for this holiday season. We will continue working hard to support Alabamians as we weather a challenging national climate.”
Total employment is up 51,300 over the year. The largest gains were in the education and health services sector (+14,000), the professional and business services sector (+13,900), and the trade, transportation and utilities sector (+5,700), among others.
Monthly gains were seen in the trade, transportation, and utilities sector (+8,100), the government sector (+1,600), and the professional and business services sector (+1,100), among others.
“We continue to be encouraged by the job growth in Alabama,” said Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington. “Many of our industries are seeing record high employment, and wages are maintaining strong year-over-year growth as well.”
Several industries are also seeing record-high levels of employment. These include the education and health services sector with 254,400 jobs, the professional and business services sector with 265,600, and the trade, transportation, and utilities sector with 409,200 jobs.
Total private average weekly wages at $996.83 are down from October’s record high of $1,017.98 but are still $23.96 higher than a year ago.
The counties with the lowest unemployment rates are Shelby County at 1.7%, Marshall and Cullman Counties at 1.8%, and Morgan and Clay Counties at 1.9%. The counties with the highest unemployment rates are Wilcox County at 8.4%, Perry County at 5.4%, and Dallas County at 5.2%.
The major cities with the lowest unemployment rates are Homewood and Trussville at 1.5%, Vestavia Hills and Madison at 1.6%, and Alabaster and Hoover at 1.7%. The major cities with the highest unemployment rates are Selma at 6.2%, Prichard at 5.7%, and Bessemer at 3.8%.
Alabama’s Labor Force participation rate dipped slightly to 57.1% from 57.2%. The national labor force participation rate also declined slightly from 62.2% to 62.1%. The national unemployment rate remains low at 3.7%.
Ivey was recently re-elected in a landslide after a campaign that strongly emphasized her efforts in improving Alabama’s economy and her record on job creation.
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