Jobless rate rises in June

Published 5:38 pm Saturday, July 23, 2016

Alabama’s statewide unemployment rate stayed at 6 percent in June, but the rate in Dallas County is on the rise.

According to the Alabama Department of Labor, Dallas County’s unemployment rate is at 11.3 percent, which is up from May’s 9.1 percent total. However, June’s 11.3 percent rate is identical to where the county’s unemployment rate was in June 2015.

The number of people employed in Dallas County is at 14,213, a slight decrease from May’s number of 14,391. Both numbers are ahead of where Dallas County was at this time last year. In June 2015, 14,107 people were employed in Dallas County.

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In May, 1,447 people were declared unemployed, but that number was at 1,809 in June.

All numbers and statistics are seasonally adjusted.

“Our unemployment rate continues to hold steady,” said Fitzgerald Washington, the Secretary of the Alabama Department of Labor.

“Even though there was no change in the rate over the month, nearly 34,000 more people are working now than last year, and fewer people are unemployed both over the month and over the year, and those numbers are important to most Alabamians.”

Other Blackbelt counties also saw their unemployment numbers rise in June.

Perry County saw its unemployment rate jump from 9.9 percent to 13.5 percent — the largest increase in the state. In Wilcox County, the unemployment rate moved from 13.5 percent in May to 15.1 percent in June.

The counties with the lowest unemployment rates are Shelby County at 4.8 percent, Elmore County at 5.3 percent, and Cherokee County at 5.4 percent.

The counties with the highest unemployment rates are Wilcox County at 15.1 percent, Perry County at 13.5 percent, and Clarke County at 12.5 percent.