Alabama’s labor force participation rate, which has become a key indicator for state officials because it is low compared to most other states, increased slightly in November, from 57% to 57.1%, the Alabama Department of Labor reported.

The national labor force participation rate is 62.8%. The rate is the percentage of people 16 and older who are employed or seeking employment divided by the total non-institutionalized, civilian working-age population.

Alabama’s rate has increased almost one-half of a percentage point during the last 12 months, the Department of Labor said.

The state’s labor force participate rate for prime age workers, ages 25-54, was 78.4% in November, the Department of Labor said, up from 78.1% in October.

“This means that three out of every four prime-age Alabamians are holding down a job, and that number is steadily increasing, month over month,” Alabama Department of Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington said. “Additionally, we saw significant growth in the number of jobs our economy is supporting, reaching a new record high and adding nearly 38,000 new jobs over the year.”

Gov. Kay Ivey called attention to Alabama’s low participation rate in July, noting that the state’s record low unemployment rates of recent months do not show the full picture of the state’s economy. Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter has created an ad hoc committee to study causes for the state’s low work participation rate.

Read more: ‘Get them off their fannies:’ Gov. Kay Ivey on how to grow Alabama’s workforce

While Alabama still trails the national average in its work participation rate, the state has a record number of people working and looking for work, the Department of Labor said.

Over the last 12 months, the number of people counted as employed grew by 40,100 to a record high of 2,263,270.

The civilian labor force, which includes those 16 and older who are working or looking for work. increased to a new record high of 2,318,745, with 35,406 more people joining over the year.

“This job growth continues improving, and we know that Alabama’s employers are continuing to add jobs each and every month,” Washington said. “We also saw modest over the year wage growth, and two large employment sectors saw their highest ever wages in November.”

Construction sector wages increased by $126.01 per week over the last year. Wages in the trade, transportation, and utilities sector increased by $27.57 weekly.

Alabama’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 2.4% from 2.3% in October. That remains close to record low levels and is below the November 2022 rate of 2.6%.

The rate represents 55,475 unemployed persons, compared to 52,182 in October and 60,169 in November 2022.

Among counties, Shelby County had the lowest unemployment rate in November at 1.8%, followed by Morgan County at 1.9%, and Marshall and Bullock counties at 2.0%.

Wilcox County had the highest unemployment rate at 8.0%, followed by Dallas County at 5.4%, and Perry County at 5.0%.

Vestavia Hills had the lowest unemployment rate among major cities at 1.6%, followed by Homewood, Madison, and Northport at 1.7%, and Alabaster, Hoover, and Trussville at 1.8%.

Selma had the highest unemployment rate among major cities at 6.7%, followed by Prichard at 4.7%, and Bessemer at 3.9%.