Alabama One of Three States to Experience a Decline in its Unemployment Rate in August

Tied with Illinois for Largest Monthly Drop

MONTGOMERY – Governor Robert Bentley and Alabama Secretary of Labor Fitzgerald Washington on Tuesday announced that Alabama was one of only three states nationally to experience a decline in its unemployment rate in August. Following the release of all states’ data today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it was determined that only Alabama, Illinois, and Utah saw their unemployment rates decrease from July to August.

Alabama and Illinois experienced the largest decrease, of .3 percentage points. Utah experienced a decrease of .2 percentage points.*

“We are continuing to work to fulfill our goal of finding a job for every Alabamian that wants one,” Governor Bentley said. “We’ve had really good news these past few days regarding the unemployment situation in Alabama, and that’s certainly encouraging.”

Alabama’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased from 5.7% in July 2016, to 5.4% (p) in August. It is well below August 2015’s rate of 6.1%.

Alabama’s rate is above the comparable national rate of 4.9%. However, fewer than half of the states have rates that are significantly lower than the national rate.

*Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
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