SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama added jobs and posted record weekly wages in two major industries in July, but the state’s unemployment rate also moved higher, creating a mixed picture of the labor market.
The Alabama Department of Workforce reported wage-and-salary employment of 2,209,500 in July, an increase of 20,400 jobs from a year earlier. Leisure and hospitality added 10,600 jobs, private education and health services gained 6,400, and government employment increased by 5,400.
Construction workers recorded average weekly wages of $1,432.21, while manufacturing averaged $1,389.75. Both represented record highs for those sectors, with manufacturing tying a record set earlier this year.
At the same time, Alabama’s preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 3.4 percent in July, up from 3.2 percent in June and 2.8 percent in July 2025. The number of unemployed Alabamians reached 79,345, compared with 66,983 one year earlier.
The state also reported that the civilian labor force declined by 9,921 people over the year, while the number of employed people fell by 22,283. Alabama’s labor-force participation rate stood at 56.9 percent.
North Alabama continued to post some of the state’s lower unemployment rates. Morgan and Limestone counties were at 3.0 percent, while the city of Madison was at 2.9 percent.
The new numbers show why headline job growth does not tell the entire economic story. Higher wages in construction and manufacturing can strengthen household incomes, while rising unemployment and a shrinking labor force point to continuing challenges for workers and employers.