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The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released its report on state unemployment for November 2024. The month saw unemployment rates increase in six states, including Alabama’s which grew to 3.1 percent.
Alabama, Maine, and Mississippi saw the greatest increases in their respective unemployment rates during November, with each of their respective rates increasing by 0.2 percent, while Iowa, Kansas, and Vermont each experienced increases of 0.1 percent.
Alabama had previously reached 3.1 percent unemployment in April of this year before the rate dropped significantly in the ensuing months. However, as the report shows, unemployment in the state climbed back up to 3.1 percent once again in November. November’s numbers are also comparable to Alabama’s unemployment levels just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and is less than half of what the state’s unemployment rate was 10 years ago.
Although Alabama’s unemployment rate rose last month, it remained over a percentage point lower than the national average which stands at 4.2 percent. For comparison, between 2014 and 2018, Alabama’s unemployment rate consistently exceeded the national average.
Meanwhile, Alaska, California, Illinois, Nevada, and the District of Columbia, all had unemployment rates above the national average despite experiencing little change during November.
Nationally, unemployment was up 0.5 percent last month relative to November 2023. Following that trend, 25 states and Washington D.C. had higher unemployment rates in November 2024 than they had a year prior. This includes Alabama, where the unemployment rate has increased 0.3 percent since last November.
According to Employ America, a policy research and advocacy organization focused on American labor market outcomes, “The labor market is treading water at this point. It’s not drowning, but it’s unclear how long it can remain in this state.”
With weather events, strikes, and high levels of immigration all acting as intervening variables in the economy over the past few months, it is difficult to draw any definitive conclusions about the current state of the national labor market. It remains unclear how much worrying is warranted and whether unemployment and other macroeconomic indicators are presenting warning signs about the country’s economy, or if they are simply sustained ripple effects from COVID and/or other extraneous factors.
With major strikes at Amazon and Starbucks going into effect just before the holidays, it will also be interesting to see what December’s labor statistics reveal as we head into the new year.
