A report published on Wednesday shows that Alabama has experienced the nation’s best drop in unemployment since the 2016 presidential election, as well as one of the largest percentage increases in labor force participation.
The newly-released study by AdvisorSmith analyzed states based upon data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. States were then ranked based upon growth across four statistics: GDP per capita, median household income, unemployment rate and labor force participation rate. Data utilized ranged from the fourth quarter of 2016 through the second quarter of 2019.
In the ultimate ranking of which states experienced the best overall economic growth in that time period, Alabama came in at No. 10.
In the subcategories, the Yellowhammer State ranked first in unemployment rate change (using not-seasonally adjusted numbers), with a drop of 3% statewide from December 2016 (5.4%) — October 2019 (2.4%).
South Carolina came in at No. 2 in this subcategory but trailed Alabama significantly. South Carolina experienced a 2.5% unemployment rate drop in that time period and was followed by Georgia (2.1%). No other state experienced a drop of 2% or more.
Moreover, not only did Alabama experience the largest drop in unemployment rate, but the state’s October 2019 rate was lower than most of the states who ranked high in that same subcategory, including Georgia’s October rate of 3%, Illinois’ rate of 3.6% and Florida’s rate of 2.9%.
In another subcategory, Alabama ranked No. 14 in average annualized change in GDP per capita. The state’s GDP per capita has risen 4.3% per year on average since the end of 2016.
The largest increase in GDP for Alabama came from durable goods manufacturing, with an increase of $2.6 billion.
Alabama also came in at ninth-best for change in labor force participation rate, rising 1.8% from December 2016 — October 2019.
The one subcategory that held Alabama’s overall ranking back was annualized change in median household income. Alabama was ranked No. 36 in this regard, with that number rising on average 2.8% annually.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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