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Selma and Dallas County were once again listed among the major counties and cities in Alabama suffering some of the state’s highest unemployment rates – Dallas County’s rate of 10.4 percent put it in league with Lowndes and Wilcox counties, 14.9 percent, and Perry County, 10.5 percent, while Selma’s 12.7 percent put it between Prichard, 15.2 percent, and Bessmer, 10.8 percent – according to numbers released by the Alabama Department of Labor (ADOL) Friday.

Still, both numbers represent an improvement over September’s unemployment rate, which saw Dallas County at 12 percent and Selma at 14.5 percent.

In October 2019, the county had an unemployment rate of 4.4 percent, while the city’s rate was 5.3 percent

Statewide unemployment came in at 5.8 percent, an improvement over September’s rate of 6.7 percent but still well above the September 2019 rate of 2.7 percent.

“We’re glad to see nearly a drop of almost an entire percentage point in our unemployment rate this month,” said ADOL Secretary Fitzgerald Washington.  “We will continue to see fluctuations in these economic indicators as pandemic concerns remain, but this month showed growth in both the number of jobs we are supporting and the number of people who are working.”