State jobless rate unchanged from November

Published 3:00 pm Saturday, January 20, 2018

Limestone County’s jobless rate dropped slightly in December, according to numbers released Friday by Gov. Kay Ivey’s office.

November’s unemployment rate was 3.2 percent and 3.1 percent last month. The statewide rate of 3.5 percent was unchanged from November.

Ivey said 2,093,063 people were counted as employed in December, which is the highest level of counted employment. The number is up from November’s count of 2,087,509 and up from December 2016’s count of 2,047,753.

“We are ending 2017 with great news on the employment front,” said Ivey, who recently qualified to seek another term as governor. “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.”

The governor said she and her team have been working to recruit more businesses, and pointed to the recent Toyota-Mazda announcement. That project is expected to provide up to 4,000 jobs when the facility opens in 2021.

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State Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington said that in early 2017, economists predicted Alabama would gain 18,700 jobs in a year’s time. The state actually gained 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,” he said.

Counties with the lowest unemployment rates are: Shelby at 2.5 percent, Cullman at 2.8 percent and Marshall, Madison, and Lee Counties at 2.9 percent. Counties with the highest unemployment rates are: Wilcox at 9.5 percent, Clarke County at 6.7 percent and Lowndes County at 6.5 percent.