By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery, AL – The state's unemployment rate rose last month to five-point-seven percent. That's almost half a percentage point higher than June's rate of five-point-three. Phyllis Kennedy, director of the Department of Industrial Relations, says the new rate represents about 122-thousand-500 unemployed Alabamians. Washington County once again recorded the highest unemployment rate at 17-point-eight percent. And, as usual, Shelby County had the state's lowest at two-point-four percent.