Governor Kay Ivey and Alabama Department of Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington announced Friday that Alabama’s July 2021 unemployment rate is 3.2%, down from June’s rate of 3.3%.

It’s also well below July 2020′s rate of 7.4%. July’s rate represents 71,627 unemployed persons, compared to 73,769 in June and 165,510 in July 2020.

Alabama’s 3.2% remains below the July national rate of 5.4%.

In July, 2,138,925 people were counted as employed, up 82,577 from July 2020.

Over the year, wage and salary employment increased 73,100 with the biggest gains seen in leisure and hospitality (+25,400), manufacturing (+11,900), and education and health services (+10,700), among others. Annual losses were seen in construction and mining and logging.

Counties with the lowest unemployment rates are Shelby County at 2.1%, Blount County at 2.2%, and Cullman and Marshall Counties at 2.3%. Counties with the highest unemployment rates are Wilcox County at 11.2%, Lowndes County at 9.7%, and Perry County at 9.4%.