As average weekly wages hit a new record high, Alabama’s labor force participation and unemployment rates held steady last month, according to preliminary data released by the Alabama Department of Workforce.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.4% in August, the same as in July but up from last August’s rate of 2.8%. That represents 80,567 unemployed Alabamians last month, compared to 66,290 Alabamians out of work last August. Alabama fell below the country as a whole’s August unemployment rate of 4.1%, which was down from 4.3% year over year.
A total of 2,282,055 Alabamians were employed last month, a dip from July at 2,286,441 and last August at 2,312,475. The seasonally adjusted civilian labor force shrunk to 2,362,622 in August, a loss of around 16,000 people over the year.
Closer look at the numbers
Down slightly from July’s rate of 56.9%, the state’s seasonally adjusted labor force participation was 56.8% in August. The small downturn is coupled with a more significant decrease year-over-year from last August’s rate of 57.5%.
Alabama sits nearly 5 percentage points below the national seasonally adjusted rate of 61.6%.
The Department of Workforce has in recent years placed an emphasis on Alabama’s prime-age labor force participation, a narrowly tailored metric tracking only Alabamians between 25 and 54 years old. Prime-age participation, which is historically higher than the general rate, was also stagnant last month at 79.5%.
Unlike overall participation, wage and salary employment grew by 5,800 people to 2,216,200 last month. That roughly matches last August’s payroll employment of 2,194,100 Alabamians, a change of around 1%.
Sectors with major gains last month included leisure and hospitality with 11,100 new jobs, professional and business services with 6,000 and private education and health services with 5,100.
Average weekly pay reached $1,187.71 in August, an increase of $72.61, or 6.5%, over the year. These gains outpaced inflation, which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics marked at 3.4% in August.
“Alabama families are bringing home better salaries to improve their families,” Alabama Secretary of Workforce Greg Reed said. “We all know this is a statistic that everyone can celebrate. We are continuing to add jobs statewide, which shows us that employers are continuing to hire and create opportunities for Alabama workers.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Claire Harrison and originally published by Alabama Daily News.
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