State labor force participation rate remains steady, record number of jobs added in May – Yellowhammer News

According to the Alabama Department of Labor, the state’s labor force participation rate remained at 57% throughout the month of May. During the same time frame, the agency said the number of prime age workers grew by a tenth of a percentage point, reaching 79.2%. Over the year, the number increased by one and six-tenths percentage points from 77.6%.

Prime-age workers are those aged 25-54 years.

“Our over the year growth in prime age workers participating in the labor force continues to be encouraging,” said Department of Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington. “We’re also seeing record high numbers in our civilian labor force are the number of people who are working.”

“In May, nearly 38,000 more people decided to enter into the job market than at the same time last year.”

RELATED: Alabama labor force participation remained unchanged in January

Alabama’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 3.0%, down slightly from April 2023’s revised rate of 3.1%. The May rate is higher than May 2023’s rate of 2.3%. The rate represents 70,679 unemployed persons, compared to 72,045 in April and 52,341 in May 2023.

The number of people employed increased by 19,648 over the year to 2,266,164, a new record high. The civilian labor force also increased to 2,336,843, with 37,986 more people joining over the year. This is also a new record high.

Over the year, wage and salary employment increased by 49,200 to 2,208,400, a new record high, with gains in the private education and health sector (+11,500), the government sector (+9,200), and the manufacturing sector (+8,600), among others.

“This job growth is indicative of positive trends in our economy,” Washington said. “As we continue to set higher and higher record jobs count numbers, we’re also seeing wage growth in many sectors, with some hitting new record highs.”

Additionally, the trade, transportation, and utilities sector reached a new record high weekly wage with $881.01, up $56.88 from last year.

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten