State Labor officials have released unemployment information for the month of June with Marengo showing an increase over the previous month.
Marengo County’s unemployment rate for June is recorded at 8.4 percent, up from 7.9 percent in May, but down from June 2014’s rate of 8.8 percent.
According to labor statistics, Marengo County has 638 unemployed workers from a civilian workforce totaling 7,582.
Alabama’s seasonally adjusted June unemployment rate is 6.1 percent.
“The June unemployment rate continues to reflect what we saw last month,” Alabama Department of Labor Commissioner Fitzgerald Washington said. “It is not uncommon to see unemployment rise or remain steady during the summer months, usually as a result of an increase in the labor force as students and graduates search for work, and teachers and other school employees are not employed.”
All of Alabama’s 67 counties have lower unemployment rates than those of a year ago.
Counties with the lowest unemployment rates are: Shelby County at 4.6 percent, Elmore County at 5.4, and Baldwin County at 5.5.
Counties with the highest unemployment rate are: Wilcox County at 16.1 percent, Clarke County at 13.7, and Lowndes County at 12.7 percent.
Greene County has the fifth highest unemployment rate at 11.5 percent.
Marengo County’s 8.4 percent unemployment rate puts it 16th overall among the state’s counties.
Statewide, wage and salary employment decreased in June by 1,900. Monthly gains were seen in the construction sector (+2,300), the leisure and hospitality sector (+1,600), and the manufacturing sector (+800), among others.