According to data released by the Alabama Department of Labor (ADOL) Friday, both Selma and Dallas County saw a decrease in unemployment during April, though both are still up from last year’s numbers.

Selma’s unemployment rate for April was 7.2 percent, a slight decrease over March’s rate of 7.6 percent but still well above last year’s rate of 5.9 percent. The city is still suffering the highest rate of unemployment in the state.

In Dallas County, the unemployment rate for April was 5.8 percent, an improvement over last month’s 6.3 percent unemployment rate and close to last year’s 5.4 percent unemployment rate.

In most counties in the state, unemployment rates either dropped or held fast – only Greene County saw an uptick in unemployment, moving from 5.9 percent in March to 6.5 percent in April.

Three of the four counties listed as having the highest unemployment rates were in the Black Belt – Wilcox, Lowndes and Greene.

Currently, there are 872 people without employment in Dallas County, 453 of which reside in Selma.

Overall, Alabama is maintaining its four-month jobs gain spree with more than 2.1 million people counted as employed in April, an increase of more than 6,700 from last month and 32,000 over last year.

The current unemployment rate in the state, not seasonally adjusted, is sitting at 3.4 percent, a slight improvement over numbers from last month and last year.

The state also reached a record high number of jobs supported by the economy, more than 2 million, an increase of more than 10,000 over last month’s numbers and an increase of more than 35,000 over the year.

“Employment has once again reached record levels,” said ADOL Secretary Fitzgerald Washington. “Our economy is supporting more jobs than ever before and more people are in the labor force than ever before. Those that are entering the labor force are finding work.  The jobs are out there, and we’re working harder than even before to make sure that everyone who wants a job, has one.”

Wage and salary employment grew by more than 10,800 in April, with more than 4,300 jobs created in the leisure and hospitality sector, over 2,300 created in the construction sector and more than 1,700 in the professional and business services sector.

Sectors that saw a 10 percent or more increase in employment over the year include construction of buildings, which boosted its numbers by 11.92 percent, heavy and civil engineering construction, which jumped by 10.73 percent, and aerospace products and parts manufacturing, which increased by 10 percent.

“Average weekly earnings are also up, both over-the-month and over-the-year,” Washington said. “Yearly increases in some of our high-wage industry sectors are showing employment growth, in some cases of more than 10 percent.  This is great news for Alabamians who are looking for high-wage, high-skill jobs.”