The state of Alabama has invested in aerospace, education, health care, banking, and various heavy industries, including automobile manufacturing, mineral extraction, steel production and fabrication. By 2006, crop and animal production in Alabama was valued at $1.5billion. In contrast to the primarily agricultural economy of the previous century, this was only about 1% of the state's gross domestic product. The number of private farms has declined at a steady rate since the 1960s, as land has been sold to developers, timber companies, and large farming conglomerates.[1]
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Non-agricultural employment in 2008 was 121,800 in management occupations; 71,750 in business and financial operations; 36,790 in computer-related and mathematical occupation; 44,200 in architecture and engineering; 12,410 in life, physical, and social sciences; 32,260 in community and social services; 12,770 in legal occupations; 116,250 in education, training, and library services; 27,840 in art, design and media occupations; 121,110 in healthcare; 44,750 in fire fighting, law enforcement, and security; 154,040 in food preparation and serving; 76,650 in building and grounds cleaning and maintenance; 53,230 in personal care and services; 244,510 in sales; 338,760 in office and administration support; 20,510 in farming, fishing, and forestry; 120,155 in construction and mining, gas, and oil extraction; 106,280 in installation, maintenance, and repair; 224,110 in production; and 167,160 in transportation and material moving.[2]
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the 2008 total gross state product was $170billion, or $29,411 per capita. Alabama's 2012 GDP increased 1.2% from the previous year. The single largest increase came in the area of information.[3] In 2010, per capita income for the state was $22,984.[4]
The state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.8% in April 2015.[5] This compared to a nationwide seasonally adjusted rate of 5.4%.[6]
Alabama has no state minimum wage and uses the federal minimum wage of $7.25. In February 2016, the state passed legislation that prevents Alabama municipalities from raising the minimum wage in their locality. The legislation voids a Birmingham city ordinance that was to raise the city's minimum wage to $10.10.[7]
As of 2018[update], Alabama has the sixth highest poverty rate among states in the U.S.[8] In 2017, United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston toured parts of rural Alabama and observed environmental conditions that he said were poorer than anywhere he had seen in the developed world.[9]
Largest employers
The five employers that employed the most employees in Alabama in April 2011 were:[10]
Alabama's agricultural outputs include poultry and eggs, cattle, fish, plant nursery items, peanuts, cotton, grains such as corn and sorghum, vegetables, milk, soybeans, and peaches. Although known as "The Cotton State", Alabama ranks between eighth and tenth in national cotton production, according to various reports,[12][13] with Texas, Georgia and Mississippi comprising the top three.
Automakers accounted for approximately a third of the industrial expansion in the state in 2012.[15] The eight models produced at the state's auto factories totaled combined sales of 74,335 vehicles for 2012. The strongest model sales during this period were the Hyundai Elantra compact car, the Mercedes-Benz GL-Class sport utility vehicle and the Honda Ridgeline sport utility truck.[16]
Steel producers Outokumpu, Nucor, SSAB, ThyssenKrupp, and U.S. Steel have facilities in Alabama and employ over 10,000 people. In May 2007, German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp selected Calvert in Mobile County for a 4.65billion combined stainless and carbon steel processing facility.[17] ThyssenKrupp's stainless steel division, Inoxum, including the stainless portion of the Calvert plant, was sold to Finnish stainless steel company Outokumpu in 2012.[18] The remaining portion of the ThyssenKrupp plant had final bids submitted by ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel for $1.6billion in March 2013. Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional submitted a combined bid for the mill at Calvert, plus a majority stake in the ThyssenKrupp mill in Brazil, for $3.8billion.[19] In July 2013, the plant was sold to ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel.[20]
The Hunt Refining Company, a subsidiary of Hunt Consolidated, Inc., is based in Tuscaloosa and operates a refinery there. The company also operates terminals in Mobile, Melvin, and Moundville.[21]JVC America, Inc. operates an optical disc replication and packaging plant in Tuscaloosa.[22]
Construction of an Airbus A320 family aircraft assembly plant in Mobile was formally announced by Airbus CEO Fabrice Brégier from the Mobile Convention Center on July 2, 2012. The plans include a $600million factory at the Brookley Aeroplex for the assembly of the A319, A320 and A321 aircraft. Construction began in 2013, with plans for it to become operable by 2015[needs update] and produce up to 50 aircraft per year by 2017.[23][24] The assembly plant is the company's first factory to be built within the United States.[25] It was announced on February 1, 2013, that Airbus had hired Alabama-based Hoar Construction to oversee construction of the facility.[26] Production began at the facility on September 14, 2015.[27] In 2020, Airbus opened a second assembly line at the facility.[27]
Tourism and entertainment
Tourism is a strong industry in the state. According to Business Insider, Alabama ranked 14th in most popular states to visit in 2014.[28] An estimated 26 million tourists visited the state in 2018.[29] Over 100,000 of these are from other countries, including from Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan.[citation needed] In 2006, 22.3million travellers spent $8.3billion providing an estimated 162,000 jobs in the state.[30][31][failed verification]
Mobile is known for having the oldest organized Mardi Gras celebration in the United States, beginning in 1703.[35] It was also host to the first formally organized Mardi Gras parade in the United States in 1830, a tradition that continues to this day.[35] Mardi Gras is an official state holiday in Mobile and Baldwin counties.[36]
In 2018, Mobile's Mardi Gras parade was the state's top event that produced the most tourists with an attendance of 892,811. The top attraction was the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville with an attendance of 849,981 followed by the Birmingham Zoo with 543,090 visitors. Of the parks and natural destinations, Alabama's Gulf Coast topped the list with 6,700,000 visitors.[37]
Wells Fargo has a regional headquarters, an operations center campus, and a $400million data center in Birmingham. Many smaller banks are also headquartered in the Birmingham area, including ServisFirst and New South Federal Savings Bank. Birmingham also serves as the headquarters for several large investment management companies, including Harbert Management Corporation.
Electronics and communications
Telecommunications provider AT&T, formerly BellSouth, has a major presence in Alabama with several large offices in Birmingham.
Many technology companies are headquartered in Huntsville, such as ADTRAN, a network access company; Intergraph, a computer graphics company; and Avocent, an IT infrastructure company.
Ijaz, Ahmad; Addy, Samuel N. (July 6, 2009). "Food Production in Alabama". The Encyclopedia of Alabama. Auburn University. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
"Alabama and CBER: 75 Years of Change"(PDF). Alabama Business. Center for Business and Economic Research, Culverhouse College of Commerce, The University of Alabama. 2005. Archived(PDF) from the original on September 27, 2006. Retrieved September 23, 2006.
"State Highlights for 2004–2005"(PDF). Alabama Cooperative Extension System. USDA, NASS, Alabama Statistical Office. 2005. Archived(PDF) from the original on September 21, 2006. Retrieved September 23, 2006.
"Verified Trauma Centers". American College of Surgeons, Verified Trauma Centers. December 30, 2010. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
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