Editor’s Note: This is an opinion column.
By Paul DeMarco
Alabama’s unemployment rate just matched the lowest in the state’s history. At 2.9 percent, it tied the record low reached in pre-pandemic 2019.
This is an amazing statistic that other states wish they could duplicate and shows the efforts state and business leaders are making to return Alabama to better economic times before the pandemic.
The coronavirus was difficult in many ways for so many Alabama residents. The pandemic was devastating for families who lost loved ones to the virus or were hospitalized. Some were laid off from their jobs or worked for small businesses that were shut down and lost thousands of dollars.
Add the crushing inflation with the soaring energy rates, and state citizens have suffered financially tremendously over the past two years. Thus, the unemployment rate, along with the fact that Alabama continues to attract new businesses to the state as well, is good news.
Thus, if the low unemployment rate is a true indicator, brighter economic days are ahead for Alabama.
Paul DeMarco is a former member of the Alabama House of Representatives.