The Alabama Department of Industrial Relations released September’s unemployment figures Friday and Dallas County saw a slight decrease in the number of those without work.

In the preliminary numbers released, Dallas County still reported the third highest unemployment figure in the state at 18 percent, but it was slightly lower than the 18.3 percent reported in August.

Overall, the state’s unemployment figure dropped slightly in September, coming in at 9.8 percent compared to August’s number of 9.9 percent.

“In September we saw some positive indicators,” Industrial Relations director Tom Surtees said. “For the first time in seven months, we were able to report a decline in the number of initial unemployment compensation claims. In addition, the number of benefits paid out is at the lowest we’ve seen since October 2008.”

Wilcox County remained the county with the highest unemployment figure with 21.5 percent unemployment, but it too saw a drop in September. Neighboring Perry County saw an improvement as well over August’s figure, reporting 18.2 percent unemployment in September.

According to Friday’s release from the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations, unemployed and underemployed Alabamians are encouraged to visit joblink.alabama.gov to view the state’s online jobs database or to find the location of their local Career Center for free employment assistance.

The Selma Career Center is located at 1112 Water Avenue in downtown Selma. Their phone number is (334) 872-0471.

In Wilcox County, the Career Center is located at the Camden City Hall on 223-A Claiborne Street. Their number is (334) 682-4603.