Tuscaloosa Unemployment Sees Noticeable Improvement In November

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Just ahead of the latest round of federal coronavirus relief passed by Congress on Monday, Tuscaloosa saw unemployment fortunes drastically improve month-over-month across the metropolitan area in November, according to preliminary data released by the Alabama Department of Labor.

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Countywide, unemployment fell by more than a percentage point over the course of a month, from 5.8% in October to 4.2% in November. The city of Tuscaloosa also saw a major boost, as its unemployment dropped by nearly two percentage points to 5.1% in November.

The entire Tuscaloosa metropolitan area reported numbers in line with trends for the county seat and county, dropping from 6% in October to 4.4% in November. The metro logged a civilian labor force of 119,357 in November, with 5,231 of those out of work. Despite the metro's unemployment still being higher than this point last year, the month-to-month improvement can be viewed as commendable as just short of 2,000 individuals found employment during this time.

The city of Northport, the 21st largest city in the state and second-largest in Tuscaloosa County, reported unemployment of 3.8%, also signaling an improvement from October's 4.6%. Northport's labor force came in at 13,893 in November, up slightly from October, as 521 people are currently out of work in the city.

The only noticeable anomaly came when looking at the city of Tuscaloosa's civilian labor force, which actually decreased month-to-month, from 48,563 in October to 48,453 in November. The city did see its number of unemployed fall, though, improving to 2,447 last month compared to 3,408 in October.

The state of Alabama followed a similar trend, with its unemployment coming in at 4.4% for November, up well above the national unemployment rate of 6.7%, in addition to marking gains from October when Alabama unemployment was at 5.7%.

Amid unemployment fortunes showing signs of a year-end turnaround despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Congress approved a new round of economic aid Monday, sending the bill to the desk of President Donald Trump.

As Patch reported on Monday, the bill would establish a temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefit and a $600 direct stimulus payment to most Americans, along with a new round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses and money for schools, health care providers and renters facing eviction.

Similar to stimulus money given during the first round in the spring, the bill provides direct payments of $600 to individuals making up to $75,000 per year and $1,200 to couples making up to $150,000, with payments phased out for higher incomes. An additional $600 payment will be made per dependent child, similar to the first round of relief payments. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday that the direct payments would begin arriving in bank accounts next week.

Patch also reported the $300 per week bonus jobless benefit in the new bill is half the supplemental federal unemployment boost provided under the $1.8 billion CARES Act in March. Additionally, the unemployment aid will be limited to 11 weeks instead of 16 weeks.

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