CHAMBERS — For the second month in a row the unemployment rate in Chambers County has dropped. The unemployment rate fell from 3.8 percent in March to 3.5 percent in April.

The Alabama Department of Labor reported Chambers County had 535 people listed as unemployed in April, compared to 568 in March. The numbers are also better than they were a year ago, when 3.7 percent of the workforce population was unemployed.

“The good news just keeps coming in Alabama,” Governor Kay Ivey said. “Our workforce is growing, more people are working, and businesses are moving to our great state. We are proud of how much we’ve improved, and are working hard to build on that momentum.”

The civilian labor force also increased to 15,196 people from 15,057 in March, while the number of people employed in Chambers County increased from 14,489 in March to 14,661 in April.

Twenty other counties had unemployment rates lower than Chambers, including nearby Lee County at 3.1 percent. Six others counties tied with Chambers County with a 3.5 percent unemployment rate as well, including Bibb, Clay, Coffee, Geneva, Marion and nearby Randolph County.

Nearby Tallapoosa County also saw a decrease in unemployment, from 4.1 percent in March to 3.7 percent.

Counties with the lowest unemployment rate include Shelby County at 2.6 percent, Cullman County at 2.8 percent and Marshall, Madison and Elmore counties at 3 percent.

Counties with the highest unemployment rate include Wilcox County at 8.6 percent, Clark and Lowndes counties at 6.6 percent and Greene County at 6 percent.

Statewide, Alabama’s unemployment rate dropped from 3.9 percent in March to 3.5 percent in April, or 83,932 people in March to 76,452 in April, a difference of 7,480 people.

In April, 2,118,763 people were counted as employed, up from March’s count of 2,094,068, and significantly higher than the April 2017 county of 2,082,565.

“Alabama businesses are supporting more jobs than they have in more than a decade,” Ivey said. “In fact, we’ve got the third highest wage and salary employment in history. This tells us that businesses in Alabama are hiring, and they’re confident in our economy.”