Alabama's unemployment rate declined to 6.3 percent in July, which is the lowest rate in nearly five years.
Gov. Robert Bentley said Alabama has not had a rate that low since October 2008. July's rate was down from 6.5 percent in June and was well below the 7.6 percent rate recorded a year ago.
The state Department of Labor said the July rate represents about 135,000 people looking for work. That's down by nearly 5,000 people from the previous month.
Counties with the lowest unemployment rates were Shelby at 4.2 percent, Baldwin at 5.3 percent and Cullman at 5.4 percent. Counties with the highest rates were Wilcox at 16.3 percent, Perry at 14.7 percent, and Dallas at 14.4 percent.
