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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Chilton County saw no change in its unemployment data after new models on the month of February were released by the Alabama Department of Workforce before the end of March. Chilton County’s unemployment rate remained unchanged in February from January’s 3.2% rate, however, this year’s February rate is higher than February 2024’s rate of 2.9%. These rates present 644 unemployed persons in Chilton County in February, 634 in January and 570 in February 2024.

The employment numbers jumped in Chilton County for February with 19,537 employed persons in the county, up from 19,442 in January. It is also higher than February 2024’s employed number of 19,340 despite the lower unemployment rate. The increase is also evident in Chilton County’s civilian labor force that increased to 20,181 in February from 20,076 in January. It is also higher than last February’s number of 19,910.

Counties in Alabama with the lowest unemployment rates are Shelby County leading the way at 2.7%, followed by St. Clair County at 2.8% and Elmore, Limestone, Madison, Morgan and Marshall Counties at 2.9%. Counties in the state with the highest unemployment rates are Greene County at 8.3%, Perry County at 6.8% and Wilcox County at 6.4%.

Alabama’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.3% in February, which remained unchanged from January, but is up from February 2024’s rate of 2.9%. Those rates represent 77,813 unemployed persons in the state for February, 78,249 in January and 67,091 in February 2024. The state’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 3.4%.

“We’re seeing positive trends in our labor force participation rate,” Greg Reed, Alabama Department of Workforce Secretary, said in a press release. “Increases, even smaller ones, are pointing us in the right direction. Both the general labor force participation rate and the rate for prime age workers showed improvement. On top of that, more people are in the labor force than ever before, and more people are working than ever before. That’s great news in Alabama!”

The number of people counted as employed increased by 26,691 people over the year to a new record high of 2,290,880. The civilian labor force also increased over the year with 37,413 more people joining, rising to a new all-time high at 2,368,693.

Alabama’s labor force participation rate for the month of February went up to 57.7%, up from 57.6% in January. The percentage of prime-age workers, those aged 25-54 years old, increased by one-tenth of a percentage point over the year to 78.8%.