Jobless rate rises in June
Published 10:21 am Friday, July 22, 2011
Chilton County’s unemployment rate is back over 10 percent.
The number of out-of-work county residents increased from May through June to 2,055 from 1891. Percentage wise, this increase meant a jump from 9.7 percent to 10.4 percent.
The trend followed statewide as Alabama’s unemployment rate rose to 9.9 percent, up from May’s rate of 9.6 percent.
“While we are disappointed to report any increase in our seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, we keep in mind the contributing factors that led us here,” said Surtees. “We still have hundreds of Alabamians unemployed as a direct result of the tornadoes of last April and the national unemployment rate also continues to rise. On the positive side, we have observed an uptick in the number of discouraged workers re-entering the job market in their employment search. There are over 33,000 more Alabamians working in June than in January, but during this same period over 50,000 came into the workforce. ”
The counties with the lowest unemployment rates were: Shelby County at 7.7 percent, Coffee County at 8.4 percent and Limestone County at 8.7 percent. The counties with the highest unemployment rates were Wilcox County at 23.4 percent, Perry County at 19.9 percent and Dallas County at 19.1 percent.