MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Alabama’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose two tenths of a point from June to July, according to preliminary data released by the Alabama Department of Workforce on Friday.
July’s rate of 3.4% was up from June’s rate of 3.2%. That represents 79,345 unemployed people in July, compared to 76,589 people looking for work in June. The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.1% last month.
Alabama unemployment is also up year-over-year, as there were 12,362 more unemployed people last month than in July 2025 when the overall unemployment rate was 2.8%.
The number of employed people decreased from 2,294,098 in June to 2,286,389 in July. That’s down 22,283 Alabamians from last July, a decrease of less than 1%.
The seasonally adjusted civilian labor force also decreased year over year, with 9,921 fewer people in the workforce than in July 2025.
July also marked a fall in labor force participation from both June and July 2025. The rate was 56.9% last month, compared to 57.1% in June and 57.5% in the same period last year.
The percentage of prime-age workers, Alabamians between the ages of 25 and 54, was 79.5% in July.
Alabama’s July labor force participation rate was 7% or 4.5 percentage points lower than the country’s as a whole.
Though unemployment was up and participation was down last month, both the construction and manufacturing sectors tied a record high set in April for weekly wages. Construction’s high weekly wage was $1,432.21, while manufacturing’s was $1,389.75.
Wage and salary employment increased 20,400 over the year to 2,209,500, according to last month’s data. That uptick included 10,600 new jobs in leisure and hospitality, 6,400 in private education and health services and 5,400 in government.
With the more than 6,000 new jobs added in July, the private education and health services sector, which includes medical workers, hit a new record high of 269,000 jobs. Nursing and other health care jobs have remained among the highest demand positions in the state, according to the Department of Workforce.
Secretary Greg Reed applauded these gains and said the growing sectors will help push Alabama forward.
“It’s great to continue to see positive growth in our jobs numbers, particularly when one of our most in-demand and needed professions, nursing, is showing such a strong increase,” Reed said. “Wage growth in two of our highest paid sectors, construction and manufacturing, is also a positive economic development. We will continue our work to ensure that Alabamians have access to well-paying, high-growth positions so that they can achieve greater financial stability for themselves and their families.”