Alabama Department of Labor secretary Fitzgerald Washington announced today that Alabama’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted December unemployment rate is 3.9%, down from November’s rate of 4.4%, and above December 2019’s rate of 2.7%. December’s rate represents 87,534 unemployed persons, compared to 100,374 in November and 61,530 in December 2019.

“This is the lowest unemployment rate Alabama has seen since the pandemic began, and I’m glad to see us close out 2020 on a good note,” Washington said. “While we are pleased to see our rate continue to drop, we know there is still a lot more work to be done. More than 26,000 Alabamians are unemployed now than at the same time last year. We are still down more than 34,000 jobs from last year. Our work in 2021 will be focused on continuing this recovery.”