May 25, 2013
Alabama's unemployment rate went up in July to 5.7 percent, but remains below the national jobless rate.
The state's jobless rate was 5.4 percent in June. One year ago it was 5.3 percent.
The national unemployment rate for July was 5.9 percent, unchanged from the June rate.
There were 122,400 unemployed persons in Alabama in July, compared to 115,900 in June.
Alice McKinney, director of the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations, said the increase in the number of people without jobs was the result of seasonal declines in education employment.
The highest jobless rate in the state was 17 percent in Washington County in southwest Alabama, while the lowest rate was 2.5 percent in Shelby County.
