Workforce

Lawrence County, Alabama is included with neighboring Morgan County in the Decatur Metropolitan Area. Employees working in Lawrence County come from nine counties throughout North Alabama, giving the county a well-trained and diverse workforce.

Lawrence County’s workforce benefits from an abundance of nearby technical training and higher education opportunities. In addition to the area’s two-year and four-year institutions, Lawrence County also offers job training through local and state technical programs.

February 2018 Employment Data

	Civilian Labor Force	Employment	Unemployment	Unemployment Rate
Source: Alabama Department of Labor, February 2018 data.
Lawrence County	13,646	13,006	640	4.7%
Decatur MA	68,690	65,834	2,856	4.2%
Alabama	2,169,8785	2,077,644	92,231	4.3%
U.S.	161,494,000	154,403,000	7,091,000	4.4%

2017 Average Employment Data

	Civilian Labor Force	Employment	Unemployment	Unemployment Rate
Source: Alabama Department of Labor, February 2018 data.
Lawrence County	13,640	12,974	666	4.9%
Decatur MA	68,480	65,562	2,918	4.3%
Alabama	2,168,444	2,073,106	95,338	4.4%
U.S.	160,320,000	153,337,000	6,982,000	4.4%

2017 Average Labor Area Workforce

	Civilian Labor Force	Employment	Unemployment	Unemployment Rate
Source: Alabama Department of Labor, 2017 Unemployment data.
Lawrence	13,640	12,974	666	4.9%
Colbert	23,092	21,889	1,203	5.2%
Cullman	37,637	36,239	1,398	3.7%
Franklin	13,960	13,369	591	4.2%
Lauderdale	41,868	39,937	1,931	4.6%
Limestone	41,092	39,457	1,635	4.0%
Morgan	54,580	52,588	2,252	4.1%
Winston	9,646	9,164	482	5.0%
Total	235,515	225,617	10,158	4.46%

2017 Underemployment Data

	North Alabama	Lawrence County	Morgan County
Note: Rounding errors may be present. Based on March 2017 labor force data and 2016 underemployment rates. Source: Center for Business and Economic Research, The University of Alabama and Alabama Department of Labor.
Underemployment	23.4%	23.3%	19.7%

Inflow

Total Primary Jobs: 5,338

Workers Living and Working in Lawrence County: 2,360

Total Employed in Lawrence County, but Living Outside the County: 2,978

Source: On the Map, US Census, Alabama Department of Labor
Morgan County	751	14.1%
Lauderdale County	439	8.2%
Colbert County	292	5.5%
Madison County	187	3.5%
Limestone County	167	3.1%

Outflow

Total Primary Jobs: 11,944

Total Living in Lawrence County, but Employed Outside the County: 9,584

Source: On the Map, US Census, Alabama Department of Labor
Morgan County	4,974	41.6%
Madison County	1,367	11.4%
Colbert County	633	5.3%
Jefferson County	619	5.2%
Lauderdale County	481	4.0%

Click here for the State of the Workforce Report XI ( May 2017)