Alabama jobless benefits

Alabama's jobless rate is holding steady.It was two-point-seven percent in December, unchanged from November. However, it's down from three-point-three percent year-over-year. U.S. filings for jobless aid for the week ending January 17 rose.

The Alabama Department of Labor is out with the State’s latest unemployment report. Communities in the State’s region known as the “Black Belt” are ranked as having the highest number of residents without jobs. However, quarterly figures from the Economic Policy Institute indicate that African American workers in Alabama have had better employment levels than much of the nation.

The long-term unemployed in Alabama will be among the first to feel automatic federal budget cuts scheduled to take effect Friday. A spokeswoman for the…