Birmingham-Hoover, Alabama Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Birmingham fell 0.5 percentage points in December 2011 to 7.8%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.3 percentage points lower than the Alabama rate. The unemployment rate in Birmingham peaked in September 2009 at 9.8% and is now 2.0 percentage points lower. You can also compare Birmingham unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate	December 2011	Month/Month	Year/Year
National	8.5%	-0.2	-0.9
Alabama	8.1%	-0.6	-1.0
Birmingham	7.8%	-0.5	-1.0

Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.¹ All comparisons are made with December 2011 data as January metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Birmingham, Alabama, National

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Birmingham, Alabama Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Birmingham peaked in September 2009 at 51,735. There are now 11,020 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Birmingham employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Birmingham, Alabama) is also available.

Unemployed Persons	December 2011	Month/Month	Year/Year
Birmingham	40,715	-2,689	-4,726

Number of Unemployed Persons

Birmingham, Alabama Unemployment History

Date	National Unemployment Rate	Alabama Unemployment Rate	Birmingham Unemployment Rate	Birmingham Unemployed
January 2012	8.3%	—	—	—
December 2011	8.5%	8.1%	7.8%	40,715
November 2011	8.7%	8.7%	8.3%	43,404
October 2011	8.9%	9.3%	8.7%	45,640
September 2011	9.0%	9.8%	9.0%	47,209
August 2011	9.1%	9.9%	9.0%	47,377
July 2011	9.1%	10.0%	9.1%	48,132
June 2011	9.1%	9.9%	9.1%	47,853
May 2011	9.0%	9.6%	8.9%	46,681
April 2011	9.0%	9.3%	8.7%	45,043
March 2011	8.9%	9.2%	8.4%	43,569
February 2011	9.0%	9.3%	8.6%	44,293
January 2011	9.1%	9.3%	8.7%	44,812