REPORT: Birmingham Metro May 2024 jobless rate decreased in every county

ByPat Byington
LAST UPDATED07/09/24

Reviewed by: Nathan Watson

Reading time: 2 minutes

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Birmingham — Railroad Park and the downtown Birmingham skyline. (Pat Byington / Bham Now)

According to the latest Alabama Department of Labor figures released in late June, the unemployment rate in every county within the Birmingham/Hoover Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) decreased in May.

Overall, the metro area unemployment level fell from 2.4% in April 2024 to 2.2% in May 2024.

The Birmingham Metro area remains a full 1.8% lower than the national average jobless rate of 4.0%.

“The Birmingham-Hoover MSA (defined by the BLS) continues to show resiliency in the labor market in the face of high interest rates. The latest reported unemployment rate (2.2%) remains lower than any pre-Covid economic period in Birmingham, going back to 1990.”
Ben Meadows, Ph.D., UAB Collat School of Business

Statewide rate is low, increasing since 2023

How did your city and county fare in May 2024 compared to the month before?

The cities:

Alabaster — 1.8%, down 0.1%
Bessemer— 3.4%, unchanged
Birmingham — 3.0%, down 0.3%
Homewood — 1.7%, down 0.1%
Hoover — 1.8%, down 0.2%
Vestavia — 1.7%, down 0.1

The counties:

Blount — 2.1%, down 0.3%
Chilton — 2.1%, down 0.2
Jefferson — 2.3%, down 0.3%
Shelby — 1.8%, down 0.2%%
St. Clair —2.1%, down 0.2%
Walker — 2.5%, down 0.2%

How does Birmingham metro compare with others?

Birmingham — Birmingham Skyline from Children’s of Alabama. (Nathan Watson / Bham Now)

All of Alabama’s MSA’s also saw a decrease in their May 2024 unemployment numbers.

Huntsville — 2.0%, down 0.2%
Gadsden — 2.7%, down 0.3%
Tuscaloosa — 2.4%, down 0.1%
Anniston/Oxford/Jacksonville — 2.6%, down 0.3%
Montgomery — 2.4%, down 0.2%
Dothan — 2.4%, down 0.3%
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley — 2.2%, down 0.8%
Mobile —2.9%, down 0.4%

Statewide, Alabama’s unemployment rate hovers at 3.0%, a full one percent lower than the national 4.0% jobless level.

Want to dive deeper into the numbers? Visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Alabama Department of Labor’s websites for the latest data.

What do you think of the latest Alabama jobless numbers? Tell us on Instagram in the comment section by tagging us at @bhamnow

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Pat Byington

Longtime conservationist. Former Executive Director at the Alabama Environmental Council and Wild South. Publisher of the Bama Environmental News for more than 18 years. Career highlights include playing an active role in the creation of Alabama's Forever Wild program, Little River Canyon National Preserve, Dugger Mountain Wilderness, preservation of special places throughout the East through the Wilderness Society and the strengthening (making more stringent) the state of Alabama's cancer risk and mercury standards.