County jobless rate tops 13 percent Jonathan Willis

By Staff
Franklin County's unemployment rate jumped a full percentage point in the month of January, rising to 13.5 percent.
That figure represents 1,671 county residents currently out of a job.
That is up from the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations numbers showing 1,557 unemployed persons in December.
The county's rising number of unemployed follows the same trend the state is following. The state average for January rose from 10.9 percent to 11.1 percent.
This rate represents 228,105 unemployed persons in Alabama, and a decline in wage and salary employment of 30,800.
Statewide losses occurred in the trade, transportation, and utilities sector,
the professional and business services sector, the government sector, the leisure and
hospitality sector, the manufacturing sector, and the construction sector. The only
monthly gain was the educational and health services sector.
"As we begin a new year, I hope that this great recession is nearing its end, and will allow
our nation's and our state's economy to begin to repair itself," said Alabama Department of Industrial Relations Director Tom Surtees.
"As that happens, I would like to remind everyone that the unemployment rate is a lagging indicator of economic recovery. Although we at the Department of Industrial Relations are serving record numbers of unemployed workers, we are still able to distribute first payments in a timely manner and are providing thousands of people with employment training and assistance all over the state through our Career Centers."
The counties with the lowest unemployment rate were: Madison at 8.7 percent, Shelby at 8.8 percent and Coffee at 9 percent.
The counties with the highest unemployment rate were: Wilcox at 27.4 percent, Monroe at 22.4 percent and Conecuh at 21.8 percent.
The average unemployment rate in Alabama for 2009 was 10.1 percent.