Governor Kay Ivey on the Labor Day holiday expressed her commitment to Alabama small business owners and the hardworking citizens in the state workforce.
“This past summer has flown by,“ Ivey said. “Our students are getting back in the classroom, and in Alabama, Labor Day weekend also means college football is back in full swing.”
“But Labor Day is at its core a celebration of the American worker,” Ivey said. “Here in Alabama, I am committed to creating the best environment for small business owners and our hardworking Alabamians.”
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of our hard workers here in Alabama,” Ivey said. “To our health care workers, educators, farmers, law enforcement, and all our folks in Alabama’s workforce, thank you for showing up and never faltering. Have a blessed Labor Day.”
Alabama’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted July 2021 unemployment rate was 3.2 percent, which is down from June’s rate of 3.3 percent and well below July 2020’s rate of 7.4 percent.
The state only had 71,627 unemployed persons, compared to 73,769 in June and 165,510 in July 2020.
Alabama remains below the national rate, which was 5.4 percent for July.
“Each month we edge closer and closer to our pre-pandemic unemployment rate,” Ivey said. “Employers have added over 73,000 jobs in the past year, and nearly 83,000 more people are working today than they were last year. Industries that were hit the hardest are seeing employment numbers increase monthly. We’ll keep working as hard as we can to continue this remarkable progress.”
In July, 2,138,925 people in the state of Alabama were counted as employed, up 82,577 from July 2020.
Ivey is running for re-election in the 2022 Republican primary.
Ivey was elevated to governor in 2017 when Gov. Robert Bentley agreed to resign. Ivey was elected in her own right in 2018. Ivey was previously elected to serves as Alabama’s lieutenant governor in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. Prior to that, Ivey served two terms as state treasurer.
Lee County Pastor Dean Odle and former Morgan County Commissioner Stacey George are also running for governor in the Republican primary. State Auditor Jim Zeigler is exploring running for governor. Chris Countryman is running for governor as a Democrat.
The Republican primary is May 24, 2022.
