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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

While the state of Alabama’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remains at a record low 2.2% and the job count reached a new record high, the unemployment rate in Chilton County climbed, according to information released from the Alabama Department of Labor on July 21. The state’s rate not seasonally adjusted sits at 2.7%, and all individual county unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.

The number of people employed in Chilton County went up from 19,718 in May to 19,853 in June. However, the number of people unemployed in the county also went up from 378 in May to 502 in June. That resulted in an increased unemployment rate from 1.9% in May to 2.5% in June in Chilton County.

“I am proud to continue to celebrate the gains we are making month after month with our economic metrics,” Alabama Department of Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington said in a press release. “The number of jobs our economy is supporting also rose to its highest level ever. This is certainly great news. Employers are continuing to add jobs, and more and more people are joining the labor force each month.”

The state of Alabama hit record highs in both the number of people counted as employed (2,253,490) and the civilian labor force (2,303,917). The county with the lowest unemployment rate in the state is nearby Shelby County at 2.0%. Wilcox County has the highest unemployment rate in the state at 7.5%.