Year to Date Wage and Salary Growth 45,500, Greatly Surpassing Expectations
MONTGOMERY – Governor Robert Bentley on Friday announced that Alabama’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted December 2015 unemployment rate is 6.2%.
“In January 2015, economists predicted that wage and salary employment would grow in Alabama by 33,800 in 2015, and we surpassed that number by more than 10,000 jobs,” Governor Bentley said. “Employers are hiring in Alabama, and these numbers prove it. We will continue our efforts to recruit and add jobs to the economy in 2016.”
“Although a slight increase in the unemployment rate is never celebrated, this month’s increase is attributed to the fact that the labor force increased by nearly 10,000, while people were out looking for work, seasonal or otherwise,” Alabama Labor Commissioner Fitzgerald Washington said. “December’s labor force count was on par with the summer months, which is traditionally when the most people are searching for work. Increases in the labor force represent increased confidence in the job market.”
Robert Bentley
The civilian labor force measured 2,154,771 in December, up from 2,145,762 in November, and significantly up from 2,130,694 in December 2014 (seasonally adjusted).
Wage and salary employment increased by 45,500 from January 2015.
Over the past 12 months (December 2014 to December 2015), gains were experienced in the education and health services sector (+5,100), the leisure and hospitality sector (+4,800), the trade, transportation, and utilities sector (+4,500), and the construction sector (+4,000), among others.
“The construction sector has experienced its best year in five years,” Washington added. “Construction employment is a great indicator of economic health: construction doesn’t drive the economy, but the economy drives construction.”
Counties with the lowest unemployment rates are: Shelby County at 4.0%, Lee County at 4.7%, and Elmore, Cullman, and St. Clair Counties at 4.8%.
Unemployment Rate by County, December 2015
Media Release/The Office Of alabama Governor Robert Bentley
