Birmingham Skyline E1755796330119 — Birmingham skyline (The Bama Buzz)

For the second month in a row, the Alabama Department of Labor has reported a slight rise in the seasonally-adjusted unemployment but the state’s largest metro areas are still showing signs of improvement.

According to the July labor market report, Alabama’s unemployment rate sits at 3.4%, up from 3.2% in June but still below the national average of 4.1%.

However, all 12 of the state’s metro areas in the report saw their unemployment numbers decrease from June to July. See which ones took the biggest jumps + how they compare to the 2025 numbers.

Alabama unemployment rate for top 12 metro areas

While the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate rose in the state, the unadjusted rate dropped from 3.9% to 3.7%. That’s the same metric which saw a decrease in the metro areas in July.

Decatur and Huntsville currently hold the lowest unemployment rate for Alabama’s metro areas. Mobile has the highest at 4.4%, matching the national unadjusted unemployment rate.

Here is how the numbers broke down in the latest Alabama Labor Market Information report:

Metro area: July 2026 rate | June 2026 rate | July 2025 rate
Anniston-Oxford: 4.2% | 4.5% | 3.5%
Auburn-Opelika: 3.6% | 3.7% | 3.2%
Birmingham: 3.6% | 3.7% | 2.8%
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley: 3.2% | 3.5% | 2.5%
Decatur: 3.1% | 3.3% | 2.5%
Dothan: 3.6% | 3.9% | 2.8%
Florence-Muscle Shoals: 4.0% | 4.3% | 3.5%
Gadsden: 3.8% | 4.1% | 3.2%
Huntsville: 3.1% | 3.3% | 2.5%
Mobile: 4.4% | 4.5% | 3.6%
Montgomery: 3.7% | 3.9% | 3.0%
Tuscaloosa: 4.3% | 4.3% | 3.9%

Each metro area saw a decrease from its June 2026 number but remains above the unemployment rate from a year ago.

In total, the unadjusted numbers show just under 87,000 unemployed people in the civilian labor force across the state. That number is down from the 92,000 reported in June.

Our state’s labor force participation rate is 56.9%, below the national average of 61.4%.