When Governor Bentley and the new GOP-led legislature took the reigns together in January of 2011, Alabama’s unemployment rate was higher than the national average. Alabama’s unemployment rate sat at 9.3% while the national rate was 9.1%.
Since then, Alabama has consistently outperformed the country as a whole. A clear contrast has emerged between the Alabama GOP’s pro-growth agenda and the tax, spend, and regulate tactics of the Democrats on the federal level.
Last month, while the rest of the country remained over 8%, Alabama’s unemployment rate was down to 7.2%. Governor Bentley has some work left today before he can draw a paycheck — but it’s hard to argue that the state’s not heading in the right direction.
I used data from the Department of Industrial Relations to create the below graph. It gives a quick snapshot of how Alabama is performing compared to the U.S. as a whole.
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012120605016
“The state’s overall unemployment rate has fallen to 7.2 percent from about 9.3 percent at the start of 2011, but that was mainly due to an overall reduction in the size of Alabama’s labor force. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the state’s workforce shrank by 60,545 laborers between March 2011 and March 2012. The overall number of employed Alabamians fell by 14,240 during that time period.”
Cliff, do you tink the immigration law is making this difference? I would also like to hear your thoughts on whether or not HB 160 being stopped in the Senate will hurt this.
anyone who doesn’t think immigration has at least played SOME role in this is either pushing an agenda or just doesn’t get it.
aaaaaaaaaand this one graph pretty much sums it up.
Facts drive liberals crazy. Imagine if we had pro-growth Republicans leading the charge on the federal level. Unemployment would probably be down in the low 7s nationally and around 6% in Alabama.