Bama Employment Rate Under 7% But Not Good News For Us
By: Staff Report
Updated: March 18, 2013
Governor Robert Bentley on Monday announced Alabama's preliminary unemployment rate for January 2013 is 6.9 percent, marking the second month the state's unemployment rate is below 7% when factoring in revised figures from December.
"The long-term trend in Alabama's unemployment rate is encouraging news," Governor Bentley said. "We have seen a steady decline in unemployment over time. Dozens of industries are choosing to build and expand in Alabama, and the result is more people are going back to work. There is still much work left to be done, however, until Alabama reaches full employment, and our efforts to recruit more jobs will continue."
However, the news is not so good for the Dothan region which has, at least for the moment, lost the potential for over 500 jobs. A Miami-based aviation company that planned to locate at the Dothan Airport has put its plans on hold. The firm, according to industry recruiters, says it cannot commit to the project at this time because of the possible shutdown of the airport control tower.
The January rate is up slightly from December 2012's revised rate of 6.8%. December 2012's preliminary rate was originally announced as 7.1%. January 2012's revised rate was 7.3%.
"This is certainly a positive trend," Alabama Department of Labor Commissioner Tom Surtees said. "However, we still have more than 140,000 Alabamians who want to work, and we have to remain focused on helping them find and keep a job."
