Alabama’s unemployment rate for December is the best in more than six years coming in at just 5.7%; that’s down from the flat 6% posted the month before and 6.1% during the same time in 2013.

Cherokee County posted a rate of 4.4% in December – meanwhile Cleburne County came in at 4.7%; Etowah County at 5.1%; DeKalb at 5.4% and Calhoun County at 5.8%.

The lowest rates posted in the state were in Shelby County at just 3.7%; Lee County at 4.1% and Cullman at 4.2% – the highest rates were in Wilcox County at 12.5%; Bullock County at 10.7% and Lowndes and Dallas counties at 10.1%.

Governor Robert Bentley says the construction sector, which has seen large losses over the past few years – continues to grow. He added that over the past year, Alabama saw gains in the leisure & hospitality sector and manufacturing sector as well; the construction sector is actually at its highest point since November of 2010; over the past 12 months, Alabama has experienced its highest percentage of job growth since 2007.