Montgomery, AL – Alabama's unemployment rate has declined slightly to 9.8 percent.
State Industrial Relations Director Tom Surtees announced Friday that the September rate was down from 9.9 percent in August. But it remains above the national unemployment rate of 9.1 percent. It's also above the 9.1 percent that Alabama recorded a year ago.
The department says the September figure does not reflect any impact from the state's new immigration law because it did not take effect until after measurements for the unemployment rate had already been made.
Counties with the lowest unemployment rates are Shelby at 6.8 percent, Coffee at 7.5 percent and Lee at 7.9 percent. Counties with the highest rates are Wilcox at 21.5 percent, Perry at 18.2 percent and Dallas at 18.0 percent.
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