FROM STAFF REPORTS

Shelby County’s July unemployment rate of 6 percent was virtually unchanged from the June rate of 6.1 percent, according to the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations.

The state jobless rate, however, went up half a percentage point from the June rate of 7.8 percent to the July rate of 8.3 percent.

Department of Industrial Relations Director Tom Surtees said partial unemployment claims went up in July, as is typical.

Partial unemployment claims are claims that are filed by workers who have been laid off for less than three weeks. That number increased to 9,259 statewide in July, a large increase from the 3,181 recorded in June.

Counties with the lowest unemployment rates were Shelby, Blount at 7.4 percent and Coffee at 7.5 percent.

Counties with the highest jobless rates were Wilcox at 19.6 percent, Dallas at 17.8 percent and Lowndes at 16.7 percent.