Alabama’s unemployment rate remained near historic lows in March and wages hit a new record, but the state’s labor force participation rate continued to trail the national rate by more than four percentage points.
The state’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 2.7%, unchanged from February and down from 3% in March 2025, the Alabama Department of Workforce said Friday (May 1). The rate represented 65,474 unemployed people, up from 64,830 in February but down from 70,862 a year ago.
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Average weekly wages increased by $71.64 over the year to $1,178.60, a new record high, according to the department.
“Wages in Alabama continue to rise and to represent some of the highest year-over-year increases in the nation,” Workforce Secretary Greg Reed said in a news release. “Our commitment to business and industry means that we will continue working to lead quality, high-paying jobs to our state.”
Alabama’s labor force participation rate was 57.5% in March, unchanged from February but down from 57.7% a year earlier. Nationally, the participation rate was 61.9%, down from 62% in February and 62.5% in March 2025.
See chart, which shows workforce participation rates for the United States as a whole and for Alabama, from January 2019 to March 2026. Click here if you’re unable to see the chart.
The participation rate measures the share of the civilian population working or actively looking for work, a figure Alabama policymakers have focused on even as unemployment remains low.
The number of employed Alabamians increased by 11,027 over the year to 2,318,507. The civilian labor force grew by 5,639 to 2,383,981.
Over the year, wage and salary employment increased by 11,200 to 2,198,100, with gains in leisure and hospitality, private education and health services, and professional and business services.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Trisha Powell Crain and originally published by Alabama Daily News.
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