Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By JOYANNA LOVE/ Managing Editor

The Alabama Department of Labor has released unemployment numbers for March.

The report brings good news with only a 2.7% unemployment rate for Chilton County.

This a slight decrease for February’s rate of 2.9%.

March’s unemployment rate represents 517 people who were unemployed during that month.

Employment statewide also showed an increase leading to a state unemployment rate of 3.8%

“Once again, our unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been since the pandemic began. We’re still not where we were before, but tremendous progress is being made,” Alabama Department of Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington said in a press release. “We have more jobs in March than we’ve had all year, and we’re seeing monthly wage growth in several industries.”

For the year, trade, transportation and utilities have seen gains in wage and salary employment.

However, “Over the year, wage and salary employment decreased by 50,900 with the biggest losses in leisure and hospitality (-18,000), education and health services (-11,800), and government (-7,300), among others.”

Washington said the state’s career centers are ready to help those who are unemployed find jobs. Information about career centers in the region is available at alabamaworks.com/centralsix/ .