WSFA 12 News Montgomery, AL |Ala. unemployment continues rise
Member Center:
Posted by: John Shryock - bio | email
MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - The state of Alabama's unemployment rate continues an upward trend jumping another four-tenths of a percent in September.
Alabama Department of Industrial Relations Director Tom Surtees confirmed the new numbers Friday saying the state's unemployment rose from 10.3 percent in August to 10.7 percent in September. The rate represents nearly 225,000 Alabamians who are out of work.
Counties with the lowest unemployment for September were Madison (7.5%), Shelby (7.6%), and Coffee (8.5%). Counties posting the highest jobless numbers included Dallas (21%) and Perry (20%). Wilcox County leads the state with a whopping 25 percent unemployment rate.
BREAKDOWN OF STATISTICS
"While we are certainly disappointed that our unemployment rate has continued to rise, we realize that we are not alone in this situation," Surtees said. "The entire country is experiencing increases...due to the effects of this worldwide recession."
Surtees said the ADIR did see initial unemployment claims drop to their lowest level of the year, indicating fewer people are filing for new unemployment benefits. September saw 28,000 initial claims compared to the year's high of 61,000 in January.
MORE INFORMATION ON THE WEB:
www.dir.alabama.gov
©2009 WSFA. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Comments Terms of Use: We welcome your participation in our community. Please keep your comments civil and on point. Notify us of any inappropriate comments by clicking the “Mark as Offensive” link. You must be at least 13 years of age to post comments. By submitting a comment, you agree to these
Terms of Service
You must be logged in to leave a comment. Login or register See all comments |
