Alabama Shatters Job Records, Wages Soar

0:00It's April 7th. You're listening to Birmingham News today, AI-powered local news. Alabama just smashed its all-time record for folks with jobs. In January, employment jumped by 17,703 people, hitting 2,323,500,88 workers total. That's a big win for the state. Average weekly wage is climbed, too, of $85.22 to a fresh high of $1,150.59. Several key industries led the charge with their own record paychecks. Secretary Greg Reed from the Department of Wartforce is pumped about it. He says these repeated highs are something to celebrate, and they're pushing harder with programs to help even more Alabamians land solid gigs. Digging deeper, manufacturing, trade, transportation, utilities, and professional business services all notched record wages. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate stayed rock steady at 2.7%.

1:00Numbers like these show Alabama's economy flexing strong, setting the stage for more growth ahead.