The number of Chilton County residents looking for work rose slightly in January, according to numbers released this week.

Chilton County’s jobless rate increased from 6.9 percent in December to 7.7 percent in January. That’s still below the state unemployment rate of 7.8 percent.

The statewide rate represents 168,883 unemployed people, which was down from the previous month.

“I am happy to see this positive trend of our unemployment rate falling month after month continue,” said Tom Surtees, director of the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations. “However, I want to remind everyone that there are still over 160,000 Alabamians out there who want a job and don’t have one. Others have left the work force. The point is, we are still not where we need to be, and job growth and creation need to remain our top priority.”

Counties with the lowest unemployment rate were Shelby County at 5.8 percent, Coffee County at 6.8 percent and Lee County at 6.9 percent.

Counties with the highest jobless rate were Wilcox County at 17.2 percent, Lowndes County at 16.6 percent and Dallas County at 14.6 percent.