April unemployment rates

The latest unemployment numbers are just out: Alabama's preliminary April rate is seven-point-two percent, down from March's revised rate of seven-point-four. The last time Alabama's unemployment rate was at or below seven-point-two percent was in November of 2008. Locally, the jobless rate in all counties was down: Marshall and Etowah counties each went from seven-point-one percent in March to six-point-four percent in April. DeKalb went from eight-point-nine percent to seven-point-nine, Calhoun from seven-point-six to six-point-nine, Cherokee from seven-point-three to six-point-five and Blount from six-point-six to five-point-eight.