MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – Alabama’s unemployment rate dropped to 2.6% in June, marking the third straight month with a record low for the state, officials said Friday.
The rate, which dropped one-tenth of a percentage point from May, represented 60,388 people without jobs statewide, a new record low, according to a statement by Gov. Kay Ivey. More than 2.2 million people were working in the state, an increase of about 5,300 from a month earlier.
Alabama’s rate was lower than the U.S. unemployment rate of 3.6% for the month. Jobless rates in June declined in 10 states and the District of Columbia, rose in two states and were unchanged in 38 states, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Shelby County, located just south of Birmingham, had the state’s lowest unemployment rate at 2.3%, followed by Cullman and Marshall counties at 2.6%. Located in rural western Alabama, Wilcox County had the state’s highest jobless rate, 10.1%.