Chilton County’s unemployment rate remained unchanged from November through the month of December, staying at 8.9 percent.

Unemployment statewide rose from 9.0 percent in November to 9.1 in December. That equates to 194,686 Alabamians without jobs. Among those, 1,702 are from Chilton County.

Despite the statewide increase for the month, unemployment numbers are significantly lower than they were this time last year, at 10.9 percent.

“Although we did see a small increase in our unemployment rates, we still remain below the national rate, and Alabama did see a net increase in jobs over the past 12 months,” said Tom Surtees, Alabama Department of Industrial Relations director. “The road coming out of this recession will be a bumpy one, and we have to be prepared to handle the bumps as they come along.”

The national unemployment rate fell to 9.4 percent in December from 9.8 the previous month.

The Alabama counties with the highest unemployment rates were Wilcox at 20 percent, Greene at 18 percent and Monroe with 16 percent.

Those with the lowest unemployment rate were Shelby at 6.7 percent, Coffee at 6.9 percent and Madison at 7.0 percent.