But hiring has averaged about 175,000 jobs in the first three months of the year, similar to last year's pace.
The state Department of Economic Opportunity announced Friday the unemployment rate dipped to 4.8 percent in March, down from 5 percent one month earlier. The total unemployed is 10,600 fewer than the same month a year ago.
The Texas unemployment rate rose slightly in March to reach 5 percent, while local rates dropped a bit. Mining and logging employment grew by 4,800 jobs in March, while Construction employment expanded by 4,000 jobs. Michigan's was higher, at 5.1 percent. Employment in Manufacturing remained unchanged. "We have job openings in our state, our labor force is growing".
The national unemployment rate decreased two-tenths of a percentage point in March to 4.5 percent.
"The month's drop in the unemployment rate came about because more people entered the labor force looking for work, and a lot of them found it", Fitzgerald Washington, Alabama Department of Labor Secretary, said in a written statement. However, in the past year, the county's labor force has grown by about 4,500 workers.
A separate survey of employers showed worse news from the payrolls.
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Maine, Tennessee and Washington state reported the largest percentage job gains last month, while Missouri, New Jersey and Pennsylvania experienced the biggest cuts.
Eight supersectors added jobs over the year.
In another measure of employment, total nonagricultural jobs dipped in March over February by 200 jobs.
That means IL still has not returned to peak employment reached in September 2000.
The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area had the highest jobless rate for Texas during March at 8.5 percent. "The usual pattern is that IL weakens more than the nation but grows less than the national average when both are on the upswing".
The falling unemployment rate this year bucks the trend seen throughout much of 2016.
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