Tuscaloosa Metro Unemployment Improves In August

TUSCALOOSA, AL. — Employment fortunes showed signs of improvement from July to August, as unemployment for the Tuscaloosa metropolitan region fell from 9.1% to 6.5% over the course of a month.

According to preliminary data from the Alabama Department of Labor, a total of 7,739 people in the metro area are currently out of work in a labor force made up of 119,984 people.

The city of Tuscaloosa's unemployment followed a similar trend, falling from 10.6% in July to 7.7% in August, with a total of 3,785 people out of work. The city's labor force, which is made up of everyone employed or those who are actively seeking work, for August was reported to be 47,890.

The city of Northport, with a labor force of 13,840 for August 2020, reported its unemployment at 4.9%, marking an improvement from 7.2% unemployment in July. Northport's unemployment was at 2.0%, however, in August 2019, further underscoring the economic impact had by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tuscaloosa County's unemployment also fell to 6.3% for August from 8.9% the previous month, but is still substantially higher than the 2.7% unemployment reported for the county in August 2019.

Unemployment also seems to be showing improvement statewide as Alabama reported 5.6% unemployment for August, compared to 7.9% in July. As was the case with Tuscaloosa, though, the state's August 2020 unemployment is still much higher than the 2.8% reported during the same month last year.

In total, 127,186 were out of work across Alabama in August.