Alabama labor force participation rate 'steady' at 57.6% in January, says ADOL report

A report by the Alabama Department of Labor (ADOL) says that the labor force participation rate held "steady" at 57.6%, with a prime-age workers increasing by three-tenths of a percentage point to 78.9 % over the year. 

“We continue to see gains in the participation of prime-age workers in Alabama,” said Alabama Department of Workforce Secretary Greg Reed. “That means that more than three out of four of these workers are in the labor force, and they are working. We will continue our efforts to increase this number overall, by increasing training opportunities and targeting populations that have traditionally been marginalized when it comes to labor force participation.”

Prime-age workers are people of ages 25 to 54 years old. 

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in January is 3.3%, which is unchanged from December 2024 and above the January 2024 rate of 2.9%. It represents 78,288 unemployed people compared to 66,845 in January 2024.

The number of people counted as employed increased by 23,534 over the year to 2,285,631, said the report, while the civilian labor force also reportedly increased to of 2,363,919 and 34,977 more people joining over the year.

“Regarding our jobs count, employers in Alabama added more than 25,000 jobs over the year,” Reed said. “This means that employers remain confident in our job market and are continuing to expand their businesses.”

Wage and salary employment increased over the year by 25,600 to 2,181,400 and gains were seen in the private education and health services sector at more than 8,000), the government sector at more than 7,400, and the manufacturing sector at more than 4,500, among others.

Counties with the highest unemployment rates were Greene County at 9.1%, Wilcox County at 6.9%, and Perry County at 6.6%. Selma remains among the highest at 6.4%.