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According to the latest numbers released by the Alabama Department of Labor (ADOL) Thursday, Dallas County saw a significant drop in the number of first-time weekly jobless claims filed last week.

Dallas County saw 78 initial unemployment claims last week as compared to 115 during the week of April 10 – during the week of March 27, the county reached a 2021 high of 182 first-time jobless claims filed.

Statewide, numbers followed a similar trend, as 8,983 initial unemployment claims were filed last week versus more than 10,900 during the week of April 10.

According to the ADOL report, more than 7,600 of those claims were related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Nationwide, the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) reported 547,000 first-time claims last week, a decrease of 39,000 compared to the previous week and the lowest level seen since March 14, 2020, when 256,000 initial claims were filed.

Despite the weekly drop in the state, Alabama was listed among the states to see the largest increases in initial claims during the week of April 10 with an additional 5,517.

Regionally, claims in Autauga County dropped to 82 last week compared to 123 during the week of April 10, while Lowndes County’s numbers were cut in half, dropping from 35 during the week of April 10 to 17 last week.

Marengo County saw only a slight increase in weekly claims, climbing up to 33 last week compared to 30 the week before, while Perry County dipped down to 21 first-time claims last week compared to 36 during the week of April 10.

Meanwhile, Wilcox County’s numbers tumbled to 13 last week after coming in at 32 the week before.

As has been the case throughout the pandemic, Jefferson County saw the highest number of initial claims last week with 1,704, while the manufacturing sector accounted for the largest shared of claims with 1,244.

Beyond that, the healthcare and social assistance sector shed just over 1,200 jobs last week, the retail sector lost 960, the administrative and support and waste management and remediation services sector lost just over 920 and the professional, scientific and technical services sector dropped 730.