MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama’s monthly unemployment rate jumped to 6.6% in September as the coronavirus pandemic kept up its continuing damage to the state’s economy.
The government reported Friday that the rate was a full percentage point above the August jobless rate. It was even worse compared to the September 2019 rate of 2.7%. The state’s labor secretary, Fitzgerald Washington, says fluctuations in the unemployment rate will likely continue during the pandemic.
Cullman County had the state’s lowest jobless rate at 3.8%. Rural Wilcox County in west Alabama was worst at 17%.