The unemployment rate for Cherokee County dropped in August, improving from the 6.4% figure posted during July to 5.8% according to the latest numbers released by the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations.

That’s considerably better than the state rate of 6.9% for the month of August and its lower than surrounding counties such as Cleburne which came in at 6.3 – Etowah, which posted a flat 7% – DeKalb, which came in at 7.1 – and Calhoun, coming in at 7.8%.

Counties posting the lowest rates were Shelby at 5.1% and Blount at 5.7%.

(Information provided in part by the Anniston Star/www.annistonstar.com)