‘Bama’s Jobless Rate at 5.8%

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MONTGOMERY – Governor Robert Bentley on Friday announced that Alabama’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted April unemployment rate is 5.8%.

“Alabama’s April unemployment rate has some positive numbers about the economy,” Governor Robert Bentley said. “The number of people in the labor force is up, the number of people employed is up, wage and salary employment is up, and the number of job orders posted on JobLink is up. Our economic development efforts will continue until every Alabamian who wants a job has the opportunity to find one.”

The Civilian Labor Force (CLF) increased in April by 12,214, while the number of people counted as employed increased by 10,019.

“The better measure of the employment picture in Alabama is reflected in the wage and salary numbers,” Alabama Department of Labor Commissioner Fitzgerald Washington said. “We are continuing to increase the number of jobs our economy supports, getting closer and closer to reaching the two million mark, which is how many jobs the economy supported prior to the recession.”

Over the year, wage and salary employment increased by 27,800 to 1,950,200, with gains in the leisure and hospitality sector (+6,600), the professional and business services sector (+5,300), and the education and health services sector (+5,300), among others.

Over the month, wage and salary employment increased in April by 12,700.  Monthly gains were seen in the leisure and hospitality sector (+4,700), the education and health services sector (+1,900), the government sector (+1,500), and the construction sector (+1,300), among others.

JobLink, the state’s online free jobs database (www.joblink.alabama.gov), registered 21,816 active job orders in April, which is the most jobs orders registered this year.

Counties with the lowest unemployment rates are: Shelby County at 3.6%, Lee County at 4.4%, and Elmore and Autauga Counties at 4.5%.