Alabama Unemployment Announcement Not All Bad News

The unemployment rate for April has gone up not only from the previous month, but from April one year ago. 

 

But Tara Hutchison with the state department of labor says it isn’t all bad news this month. 

 

“There’s two different numbers we put out today. One is the unemployment rate and the other tells how many jobs Alabama’s economy is supporting and we did have good news on that front. We had more than 10,000 jobs added over the past month and more than 15,000over the past year so that’s certainly good news,” said Hutchison.

 

But people in Montgomery have mixed opinions about what this increase means for the state. 

 

“We are certainly concerned. There have been a plethora of jobs that have come to the state but still, not enough to make a real major dent in the unemployment rate,” said Kenneth Smith.

 

“I have two sons and both of those, they stayed unemployed for probably a year and a half before they secured a job. And the job they had was nowhere near what they had so I think it’s probably better now than it was a few years ago, but still a long way to go,” said Rex Barnett.

 

But some think that expanding gambling in the state could help lower the numbers. 

 

“It’s not good. I think it’s time we looked at casinos that would employ more people that would provide jobs and bring tourists from out of state here then it could also bring jobs,” said Donnie Warthen.

 

Hutchison says while the rate may be increasing, there is still high demand for several work fields.

 

“Our data indicate that the top three most wanted jobs, wanted by employers not employees, are truck drivers, registered nurses and retail supervisors, all of which have a pretty good wage,” said Hutchison.