Alabama has largest yearly decrease in unemployment

(B'ham News) Alabama's improving job market allowed the state to notch the steepest 12-month decrease in unemployment in the nation, a state spokesman said Friday.

The Alabama jobless rate was 4 percent in July, down from 5.5 percent in July 2004, said Ron Macksoud, an official with the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations. The next biggest drop was 1.1 percentage points, registered by both California and Texas, he said.

The last time the Alabama jobless rate stood at 4 percent was July 2000.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the state's unemployment rate currently ranks as the eighth lowest in the nation, and it lags only Virginia and Florida as the third lowest in the Southeast.