Alabama unemployment rate holds steady at 3.8 percent
Alabama’s unemployment rate held steady in January at 3.8 percent for the eighth consecutive month. “People are working in Alabama. Employers are hiring in Alabama,” said Fitzgerald Washington, Secretary of the Alabama Department of Labor. “We continue to report record numbers of people with jobs, and we are seeing fewer and fewer people counted as unemployed, which is what we like to see.” The number of people counted as unemployed in January measured 83,406, which is the third lowest count in history. Just one year ago, this number measured 86,250. “While maintaining our record low unemployment rate, we’ve also seen some great over-the-year growth in some of our high wage industries,” continued Washington. “Both the construction, information, and manufacturing sectors saw significant increases from January 2018 to January 2019.” Counties with the lowest unemployment rates are: Shelby County: 3.2% Marshall and Cullman Counties: 3.7% Tuscaloosa, Morgan, Madison, and Elmore Counties: 3.8% Counties with the highest unemployment rates are: Wilcox County: 10.5% Lowndes County: 8.2% Clarke County: 7.9% Major cities with the lowest unemployment rates are: Homewood: 2.7% Vestavia Hills: 2.9% Alabaster: 3.0% Major cities with the highest unemployment rates are: Selma: 8.8% Prichard: 7.5% Anniston: 6.1%
Alabama unemployment rate drops to 3.9 percent
Alabama’s unemployment rate dropped ever so slightly in December. The Alabama Department of Labor (ADOL) said December’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate is 3.9 percent — a decrease from November’s 4 percent. “We are ending 2018 with great economic news all around,” said Alabama Department of Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington. “To see this kind of record job growth is extraordinary. Alabama employers have added nearly 45,000 jobs over the past year – economists predicted that our economy would grow by 27,000 jobs. I’m happy to say that we more than exceeded their predictions.” For seven consecutive months, the number of people counted as employed has reached record highs, with December’s count measuring 2,130,194, an increase from November’s count of 2,127,934, and an increase of 49,018 compared to December 2017’s count of 2,081,176. December’s rate represents 86,023 unemployed persons, compared to 87,754 in November and 82,378 in December 2017. Counties with the lowest unemployment rates are: Shelby County: 2.5% Cullman County: 2.9% Marshall, Madison, Limestone, and Elmore Counties: 3.0% Counties with the highest unemployment rates are: Wilcox County: 8.7% Clarke County: 7.1% Dallas County: 6.6%. Major cities with the lowest unemployment rates are: Homewood and Vestavia Hills: 2.3% Alabaster, Hoover, Madison, and Northport: 2.5% Daphne: 2.9% Major cities with the highest unemployment rates are: Selma: 7.9% Prichard: 6.3% Bessemer: 4.8%
Alabama’s jobless rate holds steady at record low 3.7 percent
Alabama’s jobless rate did not budge in February. State labor officials said Alabama’s unemployment rate held steady at 3.7 percent in February, unchanged from January’s record low. The month saw strong job gains in education and health care, government and professional and business services. “The fact that we are able to maintain our record low unemployment rate for yet another month shows that we are, in fact, keeping Alabamians working,” said Governor Kay Ivey. “Once again, we can announce that we have the fewest number of unemployed people in history. More people are working, and our economy is adding jobs. This is a combination I’m proud of, and one we hope to maintain for many more months to come.” Alabama Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington said the state has maintained a wage and salary employment count of over two million for eleven months in a row. “Not long ago, we were looking forward to just attaining that ‘magic number.’ We are consistently adding jobs to our economy. These numbers show that employers are confident in the economy and are continuing to hire.” Counties with the lowest unemployment rates are: Shelby County: 3.1% Cullman County: 3.6% Marshall, Madison, and Blount Counties: 3.7% Counties with the highest unemployment rates are: Wilcox County: 10.5% Clarke County: 8.0% Lowndes County: 7.4% Major cities with the lowest unemployment rates are: Vestavia Hills: 2.6% Homewood: 2.9%, Alabaster and Hoover: 3.0% Major cities with the highest unemployment rates are: Prichard: 7.5% Selma: 7.2% Anniston: 6.5%
Alabama’s jobless rate holds steady at record 3.5 percent low
Governor Kay Ivey announced on Friday that 2,093,063 people were counted as employed in December, the most ever recorded. Alabama’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted December unemployment rate is 3.5%, maintaining last month’s record rate. “We are ending 2017 with great news on the employment front,” Ivey said. “Not only have we reached a record low unemployment rate, but now we can add another record to our list – more people are working in Alabama than ever before! We’ve been busy recruiting new business to our state, like our recent announcement of Toyota-Mazda’s decision to locate in North Alabama, bringing 4,000 jobs and more than 300 jobs in Troy due to Kimber’s recent announcement.” The new figures also indicate the Yellowhammer State is ahead of the national employment average as the U.S. jobless rate is holding at 4.1 percent, a 17 year-low due in part to President Donald Trump‘s policy initiatives. Fitzgerald Washington, Secretary of the Alabama Department of Labor, said Alabama surpassed economists predictions for 2017. “In early 2017, economists predicted that Alabama’s economy would gain 18,700 jobs over the year,” said Washington. “I’m happy to say that we surpassed that prediction by more than 13,000 jobs, gaining a total of 32,500 jobs. Employers are hiring in Alabama, and we stand ready to provide whatever assistance is needed to make sure that they are able to fill their open positions.” Over the year, wage and salary employment increased 32,500, with gains in the leisure and hospitality sector (+8,700), the construction sector (+6,100), and the manufacturing sector (+5,800), among others. “Over the year, all 67 showed significant decreases in their unemployment rates,” continued Washington. “Wilcox County is leading with a 6.2 percentage point drop from the same time last year.” Counties with the lowest unemployment rates are: Shelby County: 2.5%, Cullman County: 2.8% Marshall, Madison, and Lee Counties: 2.9% Counties with the highest unemployment rates are: Wilcox County: 9.5% Clarke County: 6.7% Lowndes County: 6.5%. Major cities with the lowest unemployment rates are: Vestavia Hills: 2.1% Homewood: 2.3% Alabaster and Hoover: 2.4% Major cities with the highest unemployment rates are: Selma: 6.3% Prichard: 6.2% Anniston: 5.0%
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%.
Alabama jobless rate dips to 5.9 percent
Alabama’s unemployment rate is down slightly. The governor’s office said Friday the state’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate for October was 5.9 percent. That’s down one-tenth of a point from 6 percent in September. Last month’s rate is also below the jobless rate from a year ago by two-tenths of a percent. Employment increased by 7,200 jobs, with more than half the gain coming in the government sector. There were also increases in the professional and business services area, plus the trade and transportation sector. Total wage and salary employment in the state now stands at 1.97 million jobs. That’s the highest since November 2008 at the outset of the great recession. Wilcox County has the state’s highest unemployment rate at 13.3 percent. Shelby County is lowest at 4 percent. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
