Alabama’s unemployment rate stays steady in June at 6.1%

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July 17, 2015

Mercedes-Benz's plant in Vance, Ala. (Photo: Carol M. Highsmith) — Mercedes-Benz’s plant in Vance, Ala. (Photo: Carol M. Highsmith)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Governor Robert Bentley announced Friday morning the state’s unemployment rate held steady in the month of June, remaining at 6.1 percent.

“Even though our unemployment rate remained unchanged this month, we are pleased that since January 2011, our month over month growth in wage and salary employment, a trend that began in January 2011, continues,” Governor Bentley said. “Today, there are almost 75,000 more jobs in Alabama than there were in June 2011. This is good news for Alabamians who are looking to find a job.”

According to the Alabama Department of Labor, wage and salary employment increased by 23,600 to 1,952,800 over the year, with gains in the education and health services sector (+6,800), the leisure and hospitality sector (+4,900), and the construction sector (+4,000), among others.

All of Alabama’s 67 counties have lower unemployment rates than a year ago.

Alabama Department of Labor Commissioner Fitzgerald Washington explained that it “is not uncommon to see unemployment rise or remain steady during the summer months, usually as a result of an increase in the labor force as students and graduates search for work, and teachers and other school employees are not employed.”

The Alabama county with the lowest unemployment rate continues to be Shelby County (4.6 percent). Check out the unemployment rate in your county on the map below.