This graphic shows the April unemployment rate for each county in Alabama. Limestone County posted a 2.0% rate last month, the lowest figure reached over the past five years.

One year ago, the COVID-19 pandemic was at the height of its impact on daily life, and a government-mandated shutdown of many businesses and public places led to the highest unemployment rate the state of Alabama had seen in years.

Things have changed since, with the availability of vaccines leading to the return to a more normal state of being for people around the country.

One area that has improved drastically is the number of people who find themselves without jobs. The Alabama Department of Labor released the April unemployment rate figures Friday, and they are far lower than April 2020’s.

Limestone County posted a 2.0% unemployment rate in April, the lowest number recorded in the past five years. By comparison, the April 2020 unemployment rate was 10.7%, meaning the county has not only fully recovered from the pandemic on the employment front, it is now potentially setting records for the lowest figure ever achieved. ADOL’s online records for counties go back to 2016.

The city of Athens matched the county’s mark for April at 2.0%, which ties its five-year low posted in December 2019. That is a vast drop from the 10.0% number posted in April 2020, at the height of the pandemic.

“That figure is encouraging, but so many people are advertising ‘help wanted,’ it will be challenging for employers to try to find a workforce,” Mayor Ronnie Marks said. “One of the challenges for the future is to keep a qualified and dedicated workforce, and we are trying to get in schools and tell students you don’t always have to go to college. There are plenty of opportunities to get out there in the workforce.”

Limestone County was tied for the second-lowest unemployment rate in April, with only Shelby County posting a lower figure at 1.9%. The highest unemployment rate in April was Wilcox County at 8.8%.

Athens posted the second-lowest rate among major cities, with only Alabaster in Shelby County coming in lower at 1.7%. Selma posted the highest rate at 7.3%.

The state of Alabama’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.6% in April, down from 3.8% in March.

“Alabama continues to see a decline in unemployment, as vaccines roll out and businesses expand hiring,” Gov. Kay Ivey said. “Yet again, we’ve reached a new post-pandemic low unemployment rate as we edge closer and closer to our previous pre-pandemic record low. Alabama is open for business, and we’re ready to get everyone back to work.”

Alabama Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington said the number of people unemployed across the state in April was the lowest seen so far in in 2021.

“Wage growth is astounding in Alabama,” Washington said. “We hit record highs in both hourly and weekly wages for all sectors, and the leisure and hospitality sector, which has been clamoring for workers, also hit record highs. Employers in Alabama are responding to labor shortages by raising wages, as to be expected.”