ALABAMA’S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE REMAINS AT 6.1%

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – Alabama’s unemployment is remaining steady but is still above the national average.

State officials on Friday announced that the June jobless rate was 6.1 percent, the same as it was in May. By comparison, the U.S. unemployment rate in June was 5.3 percent.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has promised not to accept his salary until the state’s unemployment rate drops to 5.2 percent.

Shelby County in metro Birmingham has the state’s lowest unemployment rate at 4.6 percent. Unemployment is worst in rural Wilcox County, a Black Belt county located in west Alabama. The jobless rate there is 16 percent.