Area jobless rate near state's best
Madison County, metro Huntsville hover near 3%
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Madison County's May unemployment rate of 3.1 percent continues to rank among the very lowest in Alabama, and the Huntsville metropolitan area boasts the state's second-lowest jobless rate, according to state figures.
The metro Huntsville area includes Limestone and Madison counties and had a May unemployment rate of 3.2 percent, down from 4.2 percent in 2004.
Nationally, the unemployment rate was 5.1 percent in May.
The Auburn-Opelika metro area's 3 percent unemployment rate is lowest among the state's metropolitan areas. The Florence-Muscle Shoals area had the highest metro jobless rate at 4.8 percent. But that same northwest region has seen its unemployment rate improve sharply from 6.8 percent in May 2004.
Wilcox County, west of Montgomery, had the state's highest unemployment rate at 8 percent, while Shelby County, a Birmingham suburb, had the state's lowest unemployment rate, 2.6 percent.
© 2005 The Huntsville Times
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