The unemployment rate rose slightly for the Auburn-Opelika metropolitan area in statistics released for November 2015. The increase was likely because an increase in workforce participation, according to Labor Department officials.
In a report released in late December by the Alabama Department of Labor, Auburn-Opelika's unemployment rate rose from 4.5 to 4.7 percent. About 100 new workers entered the workforce during the time period, nearly a 1 percent increase from October.
Even with the slight increase in unemployment, Auburn-Opelika still maintains the lowest unemployment rate of any metropolitan area in Alabama. Its closest competitor is the Huntsville metropolitan area with 5 percent unemployment.
Shelby County in the southern Birmingham metropolitan area took the No.1 spot for lowest county unemployment rate at 4 percent. Lee County, home to Auburn and Opelika, had the second-lowest unemployment rate at 4.7 percent.
The unemployment rate for the state of Alabama as a whole rose from 5.9 percent in October to 6 percent in November. The unemployment rate is still down from 6.1 percent a year ago, despite more than 16,000 workers entering the workforce since November 2014.
“The very slight uptick in November’s unemployment rate is due to the fact that more people entered the workforce," said Labor Department commissioner Fitzgerald Washington in a press release. “More people are employed both over the month and over the year, so this small increase is not necessarily bad news.”
The unemployment rate for Alabama in November 2009 during the peak of the recession was 11.9 percent with 1,000 fewer individuals participating in the workforce. The unemployment rate has been cut in half over the course of six years.
Alabama's trend of improvement follows a similarly healthy trend on the national level. The national unemployment rate held steady in November and December at 5 percent with an increase in the workforce, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.
More than 271,000 individuals entered the workforce in November. In December, the civilian labor force increased by more than 466,000, but a low unemployment rate doesn't necessarily signify a strong economy, according to Richard Seals, assistant professor of economics.
"You can't just look at that one statistic," Seals said. "The market participants on Wall Street pay very little attention to that statistic. They look at a whole basket of statistics to get an overall idea of the health of the economy."
Even with added participants in the workforce over the past several years, participation is still at a 40-year low, according to Seals. Stagnant wages, low growth rates and market turbulence combined with increasing public debt in China could signal weaknesses in the economy.
"A lot of people have given up, but a lot of people are also retiring right now, and that cohort of people is larger than the people entering the workforce," Seals said. "The labor market overall is not very strong. It's not necessarily weak. It's just not very strong."
Even with the economy's weaknesses, Seals, who researches college graduates in the labor market, said the future for college graduates is bright.
"The labor market for college graduates is looking better," Seals said. "It looks way better than during the height of the employment crisis [of 2008-09]. If you look at unemployment rate for recent college graduates at the height of the crisis, it was way higher than the average unemployment rate. That's come way down, and we've had some wage growth for recent college graduates as well."
December unemployment statistics for Alabama will be released at 8 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 22. National unemployment statistics for January will be released at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 5.
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