Group Watch 3/16/12: Alabama Unemployment Drops
The state’s unemployment rate has dropped to 7.8 percent, the lowest rate in more than three years. State officials announced this week that the January rate was down from 8 percent in December. It was the sixth straight monthly decline since Alabama’s rate peaked at 10 percent in July of last year. The January rate is the lowest since the state measured 7.3 percent unemployment in December 2008. Officials say manufacturing jobs are leading the recovery followed by leisure and hospitality jobs. The latter is a result of a boost in both tourism and business-related travel. The state Revenue Department reports that sales tax receipts are up 5 percent from a year ago, and individual income tax payments are up nearly 2 percent for the same period. Corporate income tax payments have increased nearly 20 percent.
