October 2023 Group Watch: Speaker Forms Committee to Assess State’s Labor Participation
The state’s unemployment rate—at an all-time low of 2.2 percent—places Alabama among the 10 states with the lowest unemployment rates. And Alabama is witnessing record-breaking economic growth. But Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter knows things can be even better. He formed an ad hoc committee to study Alabama’s labor force participation rate and identify barriers to workforce entry. Currently there are approximately 140,000 job openings and 48,000 unemployed workers across the state. These numbers translate into a lack of almost 100,000 workers over the age of 16, which translates into one of the lowest labor participation rates in the country. Some specific areas the commission will examine and address are extending adequate childcare to families, analyzing the correlation between productivity growth and labor output, ensuring wages and salaries are competitive and offering improved mental health programs and services.
