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According to weekly first-time jobless claims numbers released by the Alabama Department of Labor (ADOL) Thursday, Dallas County saw an additional 30 people added to unemployment rolls last week.

Dallas County logged 139 initial unemployment claims last week, versus 109 during the week of Feb. 27 and 105 the week before that – still, the county is down from a 2021 high of 166 seen during the first report of the year.

That trend was not unique to Dallas County, however, as first-time claims ballooned by nearly 2,000 across the state last week, coming in a just under 13,600 compared to 11,624 during the previous week, which was up slightly from the 11,395 logged during the week of Feb. 20.

According to the ADOL report, 7,685 of last week’s claims were related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which marked its one-year anniversary in the nation Thursday.

Nationally, first-time filings for unemployment came in at 712,000, a slight increase over the previous week but below the Dow Jones estimated of 725,000 – the pre-pandemic record for initial jobless claims was 695,000.

Most neighboring counties likewise saw an increase in claims last week, with Autauga County jumping from 106 first-time claims during the week of Feb. 27 to 123 last week and Lowndes County logging 38 claims last week versus 21 the week before.

Marengo County likewise saw a slight increase, moving from 36 during the week of Feb. 27 to 45 last week, as did Perry County, with 40 claims last week compared to 30 the week before.

Wilcox County bucked the rising trend, logging 41 first-time claims last week compared to 43 during the week of Feb. 27.

Jefferson County continues to see the state’s highest weekly claim numbers, with 2,330 last week, and the unclassified sector of the workforce continues to make up the largest share of jib losses, with 5,476 last week.

Beyond that, both the administrative and support and waste management and remediation services sector and the retail sector shed more than 1,200 jobs last week, while the manufacturing sector logged more than 1,100 cuts; the accommodation and food services sector, as well as the healthcare and social assistance sector, shed more than 800 jobs last week, while the construction sector made up 475 of last week’s claims.