This map shows the unemployment rate during the month of December for each county in Alabama. Limestone County saw its second-lowest rate of 2020 with a 2.5%.

The unemployment rates for Limestone County and Athens continued to drop as 2020 neared an end.

After posting a 2.7% mark in November, both the city and county made it down to 2.5% in December, the second-lowest rate for Limestone County in 2020, with February’s pre-pandemic 2.4% proving to be the low point, according to the Alabama Department of Labor.

After seeing a spike in unemployment rate in March (11.5%) and April (7.1%) caused by government-mandated shutdowns due to COVID-19, Athens and Limestone County have gotten progressively lower in all but one month since to return to pre-pandemic numbers.

Limestone County had a civilian labor force of 42,894, with 1,079 individuals recorded as unemployed in December. The latter number comes in at only 20 more than in February.

Alabama went down from an unemployment rate of 4.4% in November, tied for the seventh lowest of any state, to 3.9% in December.

According to ADOL, December’s rate represents 87,534 unemployed persons, compared to 100,374 in November and 61,530 in December 2019.

“This is the lowest unemployment rate Alabama has seen since the pandemic began, and I’m glad to see us close out 2020 on a good note,” said Alabama Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington. “While we are pleased to see our rate continue to drop, we know there is still a lot more work to be done.”

Washington said despite the gains, 26,000 more Alabamians remain unemployed now than the same time last year, and the state is down 34,000 jobs from December 2019.

“Our work in 2021 will be focused on continuing this recovery,” Washington said.

Athens and Limestone County are not lagging very far behind the areas with the lowest unemployment rates across the state. Cullman County posted the lowest mark at 2.1%, while Homewood and Vestavia Hills tied at 1.7%.

The county with the highest unemployment rate in December was Wilcox at 10.6%, while Prichard had the highest rate among cities at 11%.