MONTGOMERY – The office of Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday announced that Alabama’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted February unemployment rate held steady at 3.7 percent, well below February 2017’s rate of 5.3 percent. Cullman County’s rate went up slightly, from 3.5 percent for January to 3.6 percent for February, down significantly from February 2017’s rate of 5 percent. Cullman County’s February 2018 rate is the second lowest in the state.
According to a media release from the governor’s office, February’s rate represents 80,685 unemployed persons, compared to 80,807 in January and 115,397 in February 2017. 2,080,339 people were counted as employed, up from January’s count of 2,079,876, and up from February 2017’s count of 2,060,841.
“The fact that we are able to maintain our record low unemployment rate for yet another month shows that we are, in fact, keeping Alabamians working,” said Ivey. “Once again, we can announce that we have the fewest number of unemployed people in history. More people are working, and our economy is adding jobs. This is a combination I’m proud of, and one we hope to maintain for many more months to come.”
“We have maintained a wage and salary employment count of over two million for eleven months in a row now,” said Alabama Department of Labor Sec. Fitzgerald Washington. “Not long ago, we were looking forward to just attaining that ‘magic number.’ We are consistently adding jobs to our economy. These numbers show that employers are confident in the economy and are continuing to hire.”
Statistics released by the governor’s office
Wage and salary employment grew in February by 14,800. Monthly gains were seen in the education and health services sector (+4,700), the government sector (+2,600), and the professional and business services sector (+2,400), among others.
Over the year, wage and salary employment increased 19,300, with gains in the education and health services sector (+5,000), the professional and business sector (+4,300), the leisure and hospitality sector (+4,200), and the manufacturing industry (+2,400), among others.
Counties with the lowest unemployment rates are: Shelby County at 3.1 percent, Cullman County at 3.6 percent, and Marshall, Madison and Blount Counties at 3.7 percent. Counties with the highest unemployment rates are: Wilcox County at 10.5 percent, Clarke County at 8.0 percent and Lowndes County at 7.4 percent.
Major cities with the lowest unemployment rates are: Vestavia Hills at 2.6 percent, Homewood at 2.9 percent and Alabaster and Hoover at 3.0 percent. Major cities with the highest unemployment rates are: Prichard at 7.5 percent, Selma at 7.2 percent and Anniston at 6.5 percent.
February 2018 Map by cullmansense on Scribd
February 2018 CountyMARate by cullmansense on Scribd
February 2018 CityRate by cullmansense on Scribd
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