BY MARY SELL
Alabama has seen a slight uptick in younger people in the labor market in the last year, according to Alabama Department of Labor.
While the overall labor force participation rate was unchanged from May to June at 57.5%, the percentage of prime-age workers ages 25 to 54 increased by 1.4 percentage points to 79.2% over the year.
“The number of prime age workers increased by more than one percentage point since last year,” Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington said in a written statement. “Combined with the growth in the civilian labor force, the growth in employment and the growth in jobs, these numbers are all excellent indicators of Alabama’s economic picture.”
The state’s unemployment rate dipped from 3% in May to 2.9% in June. It was 2.3% in June 2023. The new rate represents 67,784 unemployed people looking for work, compared to 70,668 in May and 53,412 in June 2023.
With unemployment reaching record lows in recent years, state officials have focused more on the labor rate and the state’s higher than average number of people not joining the workforce.
Over the year, wage and salary employment increased by 47,500 to 2.21 million, also a new record high, with gains in the private education and health services, government and the manufacturing sectors, among others.
“We are continuing to see Alabama’s employers adding jobs at a record pace,” Washington said. “Our economy is supporting more jobs than ever before. Additionally, our average weekly wages have increased to their second highest level ever.”
Counties with the lowest unemployment rates in June were: Shelby and Morgan, 2.3%; Marshall and Cullman, 2.4%; and Madison, Limestone and Elmore, 2.5%.
Large cities with the lowest unemployment rates were:: Trussville and Vestavia Hills, 2%; Alabaster, Hoover, Homewood and Madison, 2.2%; and Athens and Decatur, 2.4%.
