Lee County's unemployment numbers for March | News

Governor Robert Bentley announced today that Alabama's March unemployment rated dropped to 7.3%, down from February's revised rate of 7.5%.  Alabama has not had a 7.3% unemployment rate since December 2008.

Governor Bentley says, "we are encouraged to see that Alabama's unemployment rate has dropped once again, and we will continue our efforts to see that everyone who is looking for work is able to find it.  Fortunately, we are also continuing to see record numbers of job postings on JobLink.  I want to strongly encourage anyone seeking a job to go online and register, or go visit a local Career Center for some assistance.”

“Additionally, we continue to see our initial weekly claims for unemployment compensation drop to pre-recession levels,” Tom Surtees, Director of the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations said. “This means fewer people are losing their jobs.  Of those that are receiving benefits, the average duration is getting shorter – most are receiving benefits for about 17 weeks, meaning that people are going back to work faster.”

The counties with the lowest unemployment rates were: Shelby County at 5.1%, Coffee County at 6.0%, and Lee County at 6.2%.  The counties with the highest unemployment rates were Wilcox County at 16.1%, Lowndes County at 15.3%, and Dallas County at 13.4%.

In Lee County, the unemployment rate for March was 6.2%, down from 6.3% last month and down from 7.5% a year ago.

Source:  The Press Office for Governor Robert Bentley