Alabama's unemployment rate is lower than the national average at 2.8%

A poorer than expected July jobs report sent stocks lower last week as investors fears of a spring recession increased. Alabama went opposite the national trend and total unemployment dropped from 2.9 percent in June to 2.8 percent in July.

There was no noticeable improvement however in Alabama's labor force participation rate. It held steady in July. Alabama Department of Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington announced today that Alabama's labor force participation rate for July remains at 57.5% - one of the worst in the nation. The percentage of prime-age workers did increase by one-tenth of a percentage point to 79.3% over the month. Over the year, this number did increase by one and a half percentage points from 77.8%. Prime-age workers are those aged 25-54 years.

"While we all are working to increase our labor force participation rate, the continued growth, especially year over year, in the number of prime age Alabamians who are holding down a job, remains a positive trend in the state's economy." said Washington. "All other economic indicators showed improvement this month as well."

July's unemployment rate is higher than July 2023's rate of 2.4%. The rate represents 66,591 unemployed persons, compared to 67,782 in June and 55,583 in July 2023.

The number of people counted as employed increased by 20,156 over the year to a new record high count of 2,273,759. The civilian labor force also increased to a new record high of 2,340,350, with 31,164 more people joining over the year.

In the past year, wage and salary employment grew by 52,500 to 2,211,700. The largest gains were in the private education and health services sector (+13,500), the leisure and hospitality sector (+9,400), and the trade, transportation, and utilities sector (+9,000).

"The labor force continues to increase – by more than 30,000 people in the last year – and those people are getting jobs," continued Washington. "Our economy added more than 52,000 jobs in the past year, which is great news for Alabama."

The Counties with the lowest unemployment rates are: Shelby and Morgan Counties at 2.5%, Marshall and Cullman Counties at 2.6%, and St. Clair, Madison, Limestone, and Elmore Counties at 2.7%. The Alabama Counties with the highest unemployment rates are all in the Black Belt: with Wilcox County at 8.8%, Perry County at 7.0%, and Dallas County at 6.2%.

The major Alabama cities with the lowest unemployment rates are: Vestavia Hills at 2.2%, Trussville and Hoover at 2.3%, and Alabaster, Homewood, and Madison at 2.4%. The major Alabama cities with the highest unemployment rates are: Selma at 7.4%, Prichard with 5.7%, and Bessemer at 4.4%.

The national unemployment rate for July came in at 4.3% - which is up from 4.1% in June and 3.5% a year ago. This is what triggered the sell off earlier this month. The stock market rebounded this week after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled that a reduction in interest rates in September is likely and numbers came in showing that the rate of inflation in June has slowed to just an adjusted annual rate of 2.9%.

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