Alabama labor rates show more people working than ever – WVUA 23

By WVUA 23 News Reporter Laura Vale

Alabama’s Labor Department released its Labor Market Information showing 77,956 job ads posted in the state.

The leading occupations included registered nurses, retail salespersons, supervisors of retail sales workers, heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, and customer services representatives.

“I think overall, the labor rates are representing kind of the yearly trend we see with the ‘gear up and gear down’ that’s associated with holiday hiring,” said Jonathan McNair, communications and public relations specialist for the Alabama Department of Labor. “Regardless of any season, there’s always a huge need for registered nurses as well as many other health related professions.”

3,565 of the total jobs listed come from West Alabama counties, including Tuscaloosa County with 2,587 jobs listed; Pickens County with 39 listings; Greene County had 31; Bibb County totaled 90 listings; Hale County with 43 listings; Walker County had 543; and Fayette County with a total of 232.

“Our career centers have been seeing a lot of traffic of people either wanting new jobs or wanting to change careers,” said McNair. “We still have a good bit of wage competitiveness that’s going on with a lot of companies, so people are able to go out and negotiate for higher wages and we’re absolutely excited about that.”

In November, there were 31,638 job ads with salaries ranging from less than $35,000 to $70,000 and higher.

The two top employers with the most amount of job listings in the state were Huntsville Hospital and Walmart. The rest of the top 10 include UAB Medicine, Taco Bell, Jack’s Family Restaurants, Circle K, Regions Financial, Baptist Health, Auburn University and The University of Alabama at Birmingham.

“We have a larger percentage of our jobs there that aren’t requiring advanced degrees or education as well,” said McNair. “So it’s opening the door for a lot more people to enter the workforce then in past years.”

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