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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

The Alabama Department of Workforce released its March unemployment information earlier in April that showed a slight uptick in Chilton County. Chilton County’s unemployment rate went up just a tick from February to March, climbing from 3.2% to 3.3%. March 2025’s rate is also higher than March 2024’s rate of 2.6%. Those rates represent 658 unemployed persons in March, 644 unemployed persons in February and 526 unemployed persons in March 2024.

While the unemployment rate ticked up, so did Chilton County’s number of employed persons, rising from 19,539 in February to 19,561 in March. It was also higher than March 2024’s number of 19,412 employed persons. Chilton’s civilian labor force also increased in March, up to 20,219 from 20,183 in February and 19,938 in March 2024.

Shelby County holds the lowest unemployment rate in Alabama at 2.7%. Elmore and St. Clair Counties follow close behind at 2.8%, and Autauga, Limestone Marshall and Morgan Counties came in at 2.9%.

Greene County has the state’s highest unemployment rate at 7.7%, followed by Perry County at 7.3% and Wilcox County at 6.1%.

Alabama’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for March came in at 3.3%, which remained the same from February, but is higher than March 2024’s rate of 2.9%. Those rates represent 78,762 unemployed persons in March, 77,807 unemployed persons in February and 67,128 unemployed persons in March 2024. Alabama’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is a tick higher at 3.4%.

“We continue to show improvement in our labor force participation numbers,” Greg Reed, Secretary of the Alabama Department of Workforce, said. “We are working continuously to bring in new segments of the population and incorporate them into our workforce. We’re adding more jobs, more people, and more opportunity.”

Alabama’s labor force participation rate for March increased to 57.8%, which is up from 57.7% in February and 57.4% in March 2024. Also, the percentage of prime-age workers, those aged 25-54 years old, remained the same from February to March at 78.8%.

In Alabama, the number of people counted as employed in the state increased to a new record high of 2,294,254 with 27,680 persons joining over the year. Also, the civilian labor force increased to 2,373,016, a new record high, with 39,314 more people joining over the year.