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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

The Alabama Department of Workforce released its unemployment information for the month of April on May 16 that showed the state’s unemployment rate holding steady while Chilton County checks in with a 2.5% unemployment rate. Alabama’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in April was 3.3%, which remained the same from March. However, the rate is higher than April 2024’s rate of 2.9%. These rates represent 78,740 unemployed persons in April, 78,761 in March and 67,319 in April 2024. Alabama’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is much lower at 2.7%.

“It’s great to see this yearly growth in our labor force participation rate. Half of a percentage point is something to celebrate, as this number doesn’t generally reflect large growth in the short term,” Greg Reed, Alabama Department of Workforce Secretary, said. “An increase is always positive news, and we are going to continue working hard to realize even larger increases. We’re here to ensure that any Alabamian who wants a job, can find a job.”

Alabama labor force participation rate for April increased to 57.9%, which represents a half of a percentage point increase over the year. The percentage of prime-age workers, those aged 25-54 years old, remained the same at 78.8% in the state during April. The number of people counted as employed in Alabama increased by 32,204 over the year to a new record high of 2,301,503 currently. The civilian labor force also has reached a new record high at 2,380,243 after 43,625 more people joined over the year.

Shelby County remains the state’s lowest unemployment rate sitting at 2.1%, followed by Elmore, Morgan and St. Clair Counties at 2.2% and Autauga, Blount, Cleburne, Limestone and Madison Counties at 2.3%. Chilton County checks in just behind with a 2.5% unemployment rate in April, representing 507 unemployed persons in the county. Counties with the highest unemployment rates are Greene County at 6.3%, Perry County at 6.0% and Wilcox County at 5.4%.