Alabama Department of Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington announced Friday that Alabama’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted October unemployment rate is 5.7 percent, up from September’s rate of 5.4 percent, and well below October 2015’s rate of 6.1 percent. October’s rate represents 123,892 unemployed persons, compared to 117,100 in September and 131,421 in October 2015.

“An extremely large increase in the number of people who are looking for work combined with an increase in the number of people working in October led to an increase in our unemployment rate,” said Washington. “More than 16,000 people entered the workforce in October, and nearly 10,000 more people found work. Compared to last year, nearly 40,000 more people are in the work force and almost 50,000 more people are working. This shows a marked increase in the confidence level of jobseekers.”

The number of people in the Civilian Labor Force (CLF) increased in October to 2,182,384, representing an increase of 16,755 over the month. Over the year, the CLF increased by 39,805.

The number of people who were counted as employed increased 9,963 over the month. Over the year, the number of people counted as employed increased 47,334.

Covington County’s rate is up slightly from last month – from 6.5 percent to 6.8 percent. In the same month last year, the rate was lower – 6.4 percent. However, there were 308 more people employed in the county in October of 2016 than in the same period last year.