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Alabama jobless rate jumps to 5.7 percent

Alabama's unemployment rate is on the rise, partly because more people are out looking for jobs.

The state said Friday that Alabama's unemployment rate jumped to 5.7 percent in October. That's three-tenths of a percent higher than September.

And while the state jobless rate is better than it was a year ago, Alabama still trails the nation. The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 4.9 percent in October.

Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington says Alabama unemployment rose partly because far more people are out looking for work. He says more than 16,000 people entered the workforce in October, and nearly 10,000 people found jobs.

The number represents 123,892 unemployed persons in the state.

Shelby County has the best jobless rate at 4.5 percent. Wilcox County is worst at 13.8 percent.

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