Alabama’s unemployment rate rises to 11.1 percent in January, highest level in 26 years

Alabama jobless rate rises to 11.1 percent in Jan.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama’s unemployment rose to 11.1 percent in January, giving the state its highest mark in 26 years and tying Alabama for eighth among the states in joblessness.

The state Department of Industrial Relations said Wednesday that the rate was up from December’s revised 10.9 percent and increased significantly from the 8.1 percent recorded a year ago.

The last time Alabama hit 11.1 percent unemployment was January 1984.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report Wednesday showing Alabama tied with North Carolina for the eighth highest unemployment rate among the 50 states. Ranking higher were Michigan, Nevada, Rhode Island, South Carolina, California, Florida and Illinois.

Keivan Deravi, an economist at Auburn University Montgomery who has advised state officials for many years, said he and other economists expected the increase in January.

Deravi predicted the state’s jobless rate will inch higher until peaking at 11.3 percent or 11.4 percent in spring. By late spring, he expects to see some small signs of gradual improvement.

State Industrial Relations Director Tom Surtees said Alabama saw a drop of 30,800 jobs in January, and the monthly unemployment rate represented 228,105 people. The only sector of Alabama’s economy that saw a gain in jobs during January was educational and health sector services, he said.

Surtees also released year-end figures showing that Alabama’ average unemployment rate for 2009 was 10.1 percent and the state lost 70,400 jobs during the year. Manufacturing led the loss with 25,800 jobs, following by trade, transportation and utilities at 13,900 and construction at 12,000. The only gain for the year was 3,000 jobs in educational and health services.

For January, four counties recorded unemployment topping 20 percent: Wilcox at 27.4 percent, Monroe at 22.4 percent, Conecuh at 21.8 percent, and Dallas at 21.1 percent.

Four Alabama counties recorded single-digit unemployment in January: Madison at 8.7 percent, Shelby at 8.8 percent, Coffee at 9.0 percent, and Pike at 9.9 percent.