Alabama’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for September is 5.4 percent, the same rate calculated for August. The statistic represents 117,125 unemployed persons actively looking to participate in the workforce.

The last time Alabama’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was at or below 5.4 percent was May of 2008, when the rate was 5.2.

According the the Bureau of Labor Statistics, seasonal adjustment is the practice of anticipating certain trends in the labor force, such as hiring during the holidays or the surge in the labor force when students graduate in the spring, and removing their effects to the civilian labor force. Additionally, the BLS does not count non-job seeking unemployed individuals in the overall rate.

Removing the seasonal adjustment, Alabama’s unemployment rate is 5.7 percent.

“Our unemployment rate held steady this month, remaining at its lowest point during my administration, which also happens to be its lowest point in more than eight years,” Governor Robert Bentley wrote in a press release. “We are continuing to see record low numbers of people who are unemployed, with September’s count marking the second lowest number of unemployed since 2008. We are continuing our efforts to ensure that every Alabamian who wants a job has one, and these numbers show we are having success in that endeavor.”

Alabama Secretary of Labor noted that manufacturing jobs in the state are approaching pre-recession levels. The manufacturing sector employed 263,000 in September and 263,500 in August. The last time this number was higher was in December 2008, when 271,300 Alabamians held manufacturing jobs.

Some cities in the state are doing far better than others. Birmingham’s over-the-mountain suburbs are amongst some of the best in the state when it comes to low unemployment rates.

Major Cities with the lowest rates
• Homewood and Vestavia Hills – 3.6%
• Hoover – 4.1%
• Alabaster and Madison – 4.3%

Major Cities with the highest rates
• Bessemer- 10.1%
• Selma- 9.9%
• Prichard- 9.4%.

The unemployment rate by county is broken down in the map below.