Alabama Unemployment Rate Goes Up
Montgomery, Al. -- In another sign that the nation's economy is slipping further into what could become a recession, the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations Friday released numbers on the states unemployment rate.
According to the report the number of Alabamians without work stands at 4.1% for March; a jump of .4% from February.
Last year the rate was at 3.4% for the same time period.
"Despite the increase, Alabama continues to post jobless rates below the national rates," says Tom Surtees, ADIR director. "It has been nearly seven years since the national unemployement rate was lower than our state unemployment rate."
The U.S. jobless rate was 5.1% for March, up .3 from the previous month.
Surtees says, "From February to March, the number of unemployed persons increased from 81,984 to 91,145."
There is a net gain in wage and salary jobs for the state, however- 11,200 to be exact.
Most of those new jobs were in the government, trade, transportation and utilities fields.
The manufacturing sector experienced the most job losses with 5,800 less jobs.
Want to see the entire report including a list of which counties hold the highest unemploment?
http://www.wsfa.com/global/story.asp?s=8194485
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