Alabama Unemployment Rises to 9.3 Percent

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama's unemployment rate has risen slightly to 9.3 percent.
State Industrial Relations Director Tom Surtees says April's rate compares to 9.2 percent for March. Alabama's rate is better than the 9.8 percent the state recorded a year ago.
Surtees says Alabama's rate followed the national trend, which saw unemployment rise from 8.8 percent in March to 9.0 percent in April.
April's figure does not reflect any impact from the deadly tornadoes April 27. That impact will show up in the May rate in one month.
Counties with the lowest unemployment rates are Shelby at 6.5 percent, Coffee at 7.0 percent and Pike at 7.2 percent. The counties with the highest rates are Wilcox at 20.9 percent, Monroe at 16.2 percent, and Clarke at 16.1 percent.