Gov. Robert Bentley announced Jan. 20 that Alabama’s December 2011 unemployment rate has dropped to 8.1 percent, down from 8.7 in November.

December’s rate represents 174,119 unemployed persons, compared to 187,496 in November and 193,158 in December 2010.

Chilton County’s December 2011 unemployment rate has dropped to 6.9 percent, down from 7.6 percent in November.

December’s rate represents 1,318 unemployed persons, compared to 1,459 in November and 1,696 in December 2010.

“Alabama’s unemployment rate has been falling since August,” Bentley said in a news release. “In the last three months alone, we’ve seen an unprecedented drop of 1.7 percentage points. Our rates are once again below the national average, and over 41,000 more Alabamians are employed now than at the beginning of the year. I have to say that 2011 turned out to be a pretty good year in terms of reducing unemployment, but we still have work to do.”

Alabama’s unemployment rate matched the national rate (8.7 percent) in November 2011 and fell below in December (8.5 percent). Employment in January 2011 was 1,921,819, compared to December’s employment of 1,963,395.

“There are many positive economic indicators that our economy is slowly improving,” said Tom Surtees, director of the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations. “Initial claims, first payments, benefit payments and weeks claimed all remain at levels below the last three years.”

Since January 2011, Alabama gained 35,400 jobs. The majority of the gains came from the sectors of trade, transportation and utilities; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; and manufacturing. Declines were recorded in the government and information sectors.

The counties with the lowest unemployment rates in December were: Shelby County at 5.2 percent, Coffee County at 6.0 percent, Pike County at 6.4 percent and Lee County at 6.4 percent. The counties with the highest unemployment rates in December were: Wilcox County at 16.3 percent, Bullock County at 13.7 percent, Perry County at 13.5 percent and Lowndes County at 13.5 percent.