Alabama Unemployment Rate Unchanged

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – Alabama’s unemployment rate is unchanged from last month at 6.2 percent.

The governor’s office said Friday the seasonally adjusted jobless rate for August was the same as the July rate of 6.2 percent.

The number is a slight improvement from the same time last year, when Alabama’s unemployment rate was 6.5 percent. But it’s still well above the U.S. unemployment rate of 5.1 percent.

Wage and salary employment increased only slightly in August, by 900 jobs. The largest gains came in employment by government, education and health services, and the leisure and hospitality sector.

Unemployment is lowest in Shelby County, which had an August jobless rate of 4.7 percent. Wilcox County is worst in the state with an unemployment rate of 16 percent.

A breakdown by county unemployment rates is located at: http://governor.alabama.gov/assets/2015/09/August-2015-County-MA-Rate.pdf