According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Alabama is the only state in the country that has seen its unemployment rate rise over the last 12 months.
Alabama Department of Labor Commissioner Tom Surtees announced this morning that Alabama’s unemployment rate rose for the third straight month, to 6.9%. That’s up almost a full point since January. Shelby County has the lowest unemployment rate, 4.2%, and Wilcox County has the highest, 15.5%.
This time last year, Alabama’s unemployment rate was 6.5%.
37 states now have an unemployment rate lower than Alabama. As for our neighbors, Florida (6.2%) and Tennessee (6.3%) have less unemployment than the Yellowhammer State, while the rates in Georgia (7.0%) and Mississippi (7.5%) remain higher.
The unemployment numbers are seasonally adjusted, and also don’t take into account the changing size of the workforce. There were about 15,000 less unemployed Alabamians in January of this year than there were in January of 2013. But the state’s labor force shrunk by over 30,000 people during that same time period.
Alabama has had a run of high profile economic development successes in recent years, including Airbus, Remington and the recent Verizon expansion. But today’s numbers show there is still a lot of room for improvement in the state’s economy.
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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