Alabama Jobless Rate Unchanged

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – Alabama’s unemployment rate is holding steady at 6.2 percent.

Labor statistics released by the governor’s office on Friday show the state labor force grew by 10,200 jobs to 2.2 million in March.

That’s an improvement both from the previous month and a year before.

But the gain wasn’t enough to reduce Alabama’s unemployment rate, which remains above the national rate of 5 percent.

Shelby County in suburban Birmingham has the state’s lowest unemployment rate at 4.6 percent.

Wilcox County in rural western Alabama is worst with a jobless rate of 13.9 percent.