News Release
For Immediate Release: May 16, 2025
Alabama’s Labor Force Participation Rate Increases to 57.9%
Jobs Count, Labor Force, and Employment Counts at New Record Highs
MONTGOMERY – Alabama Department of Workforce Secretary Greg Reed announced today that Alabama’s labor force participation rate for April increased to 57.9%. This represents a half of a percentage point increase over the year. The percentage of prime-age workers held steady at 78.8%. Prime-age workers are those aged 25-54 years.
“It’s great to see this yearly growth in our labor force participation rate. Half of a percentage point is something to celebrate, as this number doesn’t generally reflect large growth in the short term,” said Reed. “An increase is always positive news, and we are going to continue working hard to realize even larger increases. We’re here to ensure that any Alabamian who wants a job, can find a job.”
Alabama’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted April unemployment rate is 3.3%, unchanged from March 2025’s rate. April’s rate is higher than April 2024’s rate of 2.9%. The rate represents 78,740 unemployed persons, compared to 78,761 in March and 67,319 in April 2024.
The number of people counted as employed increased by 32,204 over the year to 2,301,503, a new record high. The civilian labor force also increased to 2,380,243, also a new record high, with 43,625 more people joining over the year.
Over the year, wage and salary employment increased by 28,100 to 2,216,200, with gains in the private education and health services sector (+9,000), the government sector (+5,200), and the manufacturing sector (+4,300), among others.
“While we are continuing to add jobs at record levels, we’re seeing increased wages in major industry areas as well,” continued Reed. “Additionally, since last month, all 67 counties experienced a drop in their unemployment rates.”
Two industry areas saw new record high weekly wages this month. The manufacturing sector saw a yearly increase of $136.97 to $1,343.73. The leisure and hospitality sector, which was particularly hard hit during the Covid-19 pandemic, saw a yearly increase of $24.27 to $431.73.
Counties with the lowest unemployment rates are: Shelby County at 2.1%, St. Clair, Morgan, and Elmore Counties at 2.2%, and Madison, Limestone, Cleburne, Blount, and Autauga Counties at 2.3%. Counties with the highest unemployment rates are: Greene County at 6.3%, Perry County at 6.0%, and Wilcox County at 5.4%.
Major cities with the lowest unemployment rates are: Vestavia Hills at 1.8%, Homewood at 1.9%, and Alabaster at 2.0%. Major cities with the highest unemployment rates are: Prichard at 5.9%, Selma at 5.1%, and Anniston at 4.3%.
