MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama's unemployment rate has jumped to 12.9% in April during the economic shutdown linked to the coronavirus pandemic.
That's the worst in nearly 37 years. Statistics released by the state Friday show nearly 217,000 people lost jobs from March to April. The change left 283,787 people without work statewide. The April rate of nearly 13% percent was up from 3% just one month earlier.
Geneva County in rural south Alabama has the state's lowest unemployment rate at 8.1%. But a state-high 26% of people are out of work in Lowndes County, just west of Montgomery.
The worst losses were in the leisure and hospitality industry, where 79,500 people lost their jobs.
