Alabama’s December unemployment rate decline best in U.S.

(25th January, 2012)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Alabama’s unemployment rate declined more rapidly than any other state’s in December, providing more evidence that the Alabama economy is rebounding, experts said.

Alabama’s jobless rate fell from 8.7 percent in November to 8.1 percent last month, a drop of 0.6 percentage points, the biggest decline among the states, according to a report Tuesday from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Alabama was followed by Michigan, whose unemployment rate dropped a half point to 9.3 percent in the month-to-month comparison. Four other states tied for third with a 0.4 percentage point drop: South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Ohio.

Since every state’s unemployment rate is estimated using a similar methodology, the pace of the decline is good news for Alabama’s economy, said Ahmad Ijaz, an economist at the University of Alabama. But there are caveats, he added. For one thing, the December figure is skewed by a big jump in seasonal or part-time hiring for the holidays. Plus, many people have halted job searches and are no longer counted. …
http://blog.al.com/businessnews/2012/01/alabamas_unemployment_rate_dec.html

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