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The Alabama Department of Labor (ADOL) release weekly unemployment figures showing that 182 first-jobless claims were filed in Dallas County last week, a significant increase over the 89 filed the week before.

During the week of March 20, Dallas County saw its first week of jobless claims under 100 since late December – aside from that week, numbers have been on the include in the county since late February.

The spike in county numbers mirrored an increase statewide, where 18,710 initial unemployment claims were filed last week compared to just under 14,000 the previous week – of those filed last week, 14,285 were related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

That trend held nationwide as 719,000 Americans filed for unemployment last week, up from 658,000 the week before, though continuing claims declined, as did the total number of people receiving benefits through all government programs.

Neighboring Autauga County saw its numbers drop slightly, coming in at 158 last week compared to 163 the week before, while Lowndes County saw its numbers increase from 37 during the week of March 20 to 42 last week.

Marengo County saw a slight uptick in claims, registering 47 last week compared to 38 the week before, while Perry County saw a significant rise in claims, jumping from 25 during the week of March 20 to 66 last week.

Wilcox County, meanwhile, saw its numbers decline modestly from 51 during the week of March 20 to 38 last week.

As has been the case throughout the pandemic-induced employment crisis, Jefferson County saw the largest number of claims, over 3,200 last week, and the unclassified sector of the workforce saw the highest number of job losses, more than 8,000 last week.

Beyond that, the manufacturing sector shed just over 1,600 jobs and the administrative and support and waste management and remediation services sector lost just under 1,600 jobs.

The accommodation and food services sector shed just over 1,500 jobs last week, the retail sector made up nearly 1,200 of last week’s claims and the healthcare and social assistance sector shed more than 1,100 jobs.