CHAMBERS — After a few months of job growth, Chambers County saw the unemployment rate rise slightly, from 3.5 percent in April to 3.8 percent in May.

The Alabama Department of Labor reported that Chambers County had 584 people listed as unemployed in May, compared to 532 in April. The numbers are still better than they were a year ago, when 3.5 percent of the workforce population was unemployed.

The civilian labor force also decreased to 15,181 people from 15,198 in April, while the number of people employed in Chambers County dropped from 14,666 to 14,597 in May.

Twenty three other counties had unemployment rates lower than Chambers, including nearby Randolph County at 3.7 percent and Lee County at 3.4 percent. Five other counties tied with Chambers County with a 3.8 percent unemployment rate as well, including Geneva, Houston, Jackson, Tuscaloosa and Winston County.

Nearby counties also saw an increase in unemployment: Lee County went from 3.1 percent in April to 3.4 percent in May, Randolph increased from 3.5 percent to 3.7 percent and Tallapoosa went from 3.7 percent to 4 percent.

Counties with the lowest unemployment rate include Shelby County at 2.7 percent, Cullman County at 3.1 percent and Marshall, Elmore and Baldwin counties at 3.2 percent.

Counties with the highest unemployment rate include Wilcox County at 8.9 percent, Greene County at 7.2 percent and Clarke County at 6.9 percent.

Statewide, Alabama’s unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, rose slightly from 3.8 percent in April to 3.9 percent in May, or 83,151 people in April to 85,634 in May, a difference of 2,483 people.

In May, 2,091,439 people, seasonally adjusted, were counted as employed, up from April’s 2,086,358, and significantly higher than the May 2017 county of 2,070,162.