Alabama’s unemployment rate fell during the month of March to 11 percent, down from February’s rate of 11.1 percent unemployed.

Shelby County’s unemployment rate also dropped from 8.5 percent in February to 8.1 percent in March, according to a press release from the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations.

For the state, wage and salary employment increased by 12,100 over March. Most gains were made in the fields of leisure and hospitality, transportation, government, business services, education and health services.

ADIR Director Tom Surtees said the uptick in employment was a good sign for the economy.

“While we are certainly pleased to see a small decrease in the unemployment rate, I want to caution everyone that we are not out of the woods just yet,” he said. “For the second month in a row, we have seen an increase in wage and salary employment, and that’s a good sign.”

The counties with the lowest unemployment rates were Shelby, Madison at 8 percent and Coffee at 8.3 percent. The counties with the highest unemployment rates were Wilcox at 24.8 percent, Monroe with 20.4 percent and Conecuh at 19.4 percent.