The unemployment rate for September rose slightly one month after posting the lowest figures since April after the COVID-19 pandemic forced many businesses to shut down. Last month’s rate for Limestone County was 4.3% compared to 3.8% in August and 2.2% last year, when the state of Alabama was experiencing a record-setting period of economic success.

The city of Athens came in just below that mark at 4.2% in September, though still up from 3.8% in August and 2.0% in September of 2019.

Despite the slight rise in the rate, these figures are still far below the 11.5% post in April and 7.5% figure from May.

“I think there are many sectors of our community that have bounced back,” said Bethany Shockney, president and CEO of the Limestone County Economic Development Association. “I’m not certain we are back to what we would call normal, but I think we are doing exceptionally well. Once you get to this low of a percentage, you are getting to where people consider you at full employment. We still have some sectors of people not counted that are still viable candidates to fill open jobs.”

Alabama rose from 5.6% in August to 6.6% last month, more than double the 2.7% unemployment rate seen at this time last year.

“As we continue to gauge the economic impacts of this pandemic, we expect to see fluctuations in our unemployment rate,” said Fitzgerald Washington, Alabama Department of Labor secretary. “In September, we saw fewer people entering the labor force, fewer people working and more who were counted as unemployed. All of those factors will increase the unemployment rate. We will continue to work with employers and the unemployed to put Alabamians back to work.”

There were 1,860 residents of Limestone County listed as unemployed in September, up from 1,660 in August. The number of employed residents was 41,211 last month.

Statewide, 148,912 people were marked as unemployed in September compared to 125,855 in August. Alabama’s civilian labor force numbered 2,248,823 in September.

“We did see an increase in the number of jobs the economy is supporting, with a gain of a little more than 9,000,” Washington said. “We hope to see hiring pick up over the next couple of months as we approach the holiday season.”

Cullman County posted the lowest unemployment rate of last month at 3.8%, while Homewood posted the lowest figure among Alabama cities at 3.5%. Wilcox County (17%) and Prichard (17.2%) had the highest rates for a county and city respectively.