MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama's jobless rate has dipped to a record-low 3.7 percent as more workers continue joining the workforce.
The state unemployment rate announced Friday for February is one-tenth of a percent worse than the national rate. But it's down from the February 2018 state rate of 4 percent.
A statement from Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington says the state has broken record highs for employment for nine consecutive months.
The largest gains were in the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 7,100 positions. Trades, transportation and utilities gained another 6,300 jobs.
Shelby County in metro Birmingham has the state's lowest unemployment at 2.9 percent, followed at 3.3 percent by Cullman, Elmore, Madison and Marshall counties.
Rural Wilcox County in west Alabama has the state's highest jobless rate at 9.8 percent.