Alabama's unemployment rate is up, but more people are working

More Alabamians are employed now than ever recorded, according to the state's Department of Labor.

Alabama's unemployment rate edged up slightly in June, but the Department of Labor said more people are working in Alabama than has ever been recorded.

The state's preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for June was 4.1 percent, up from May's rate of 3.9 percent, and below June 2017's rate of 4.3 percent.

Last month, the number of Alabamians employed reached 2,098,377, a record high. The state's economy is also supporting more jobs than ever before, officials said.

The biggest monthly job gains came in the professional and business services sector, with more than 5,000 jobs added, more than 2,200 in the manufacturing sector, and seasonal gains in the leisure and hospitality sector upwards of 1,300.

Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington said workers are earning an average of more than $30 per week higher than this time last year. The biggest wage hikes came in the construction, manufacturing, and professional and business services industries.

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