This weekend we celebrate workers. And what better way than by taking a Monday day off and forgetting for three glorious days all the stresses, demands and responsibilities of the job. Just about everybody gets Labor Day off, except for those who labor in restaurants (especially those that specialize in the requisite Labor Day barbecue) and in retail stores with big Labor Day sales, and police and firefighters, and nurses and hospital staff, and correctional officers in prisons and jails, and, of course, a few select reporters and editors.

The rest of us who are enjoying the long weekend are grateful for the continued labors of those on the job, who allow us to eat and shop without much worry for our safety and health and news. And we are grateful for our own jobs from which we are taking a welcome break.

For the favored few, a job is a source of joy, fulfillment and sense of purpose. For many more, work is a means to an end, a source of the money to provide for life’s necessities and the occasional luxury. And for far too many these days, a job is a bittersweet memory and an elusive goal.

The national unemployment rate climbed a tenth of a percent in August, from 9.5 percent to 9.6 percent. State numbers for August are still coming in.

Although Alabama’s unemployment rate in July was the lowest in 15 months, nearly a tenth of the state’s workers remained without jobs— 9.7 percent. In Talladega County, the rate was 11.9 percent, and in St. Clair County 9.1 percent. Those numbers were neither among the highest nor the lowest in the state. Comparing the actual numbers puts the county percentages in perspective. In Talladega, the number in July was 4,182, while in St. Clair it was 3,175. However, in Greene County, which had the state’s highest unemployment rate at 19 percent, the actual number of unemployed was only 667 people. And in Shelby County, which had the lowest unemployment rate, the number of people was 6,538. So while our counties have higher unemployment rates than Shelby, we have fewer unemployed; and while our rates are lower than Greene’s, we have thousands more looking for jobs.

Statewide, more than 202,000 people were looking for work in July, and the number likely will be higher when the August figures are released later this month. Locally, more than 7,300 of our neighbors need jobs. Every business closing, every layoff hurts us. Every opening, every expansion, every construction project helps us. We are fortunate that in the last few weeks, several companies have hosted job fairs to staff expansions, a number of small businesses have opened in cities from Childersburg to Lincoln, and construction has begun on large, new retail centers in Pell City and Sylacauga. Just this past week, Gov. Bob Riley announced the state had secured a federal grant to build a new veteran’s nursing home in Pell City. The initial federal investment of $15 million will grow to $33 million next year, and the entire project will bring an estimated $50 million to the area in construction alone. We rejoice in the new jobs these and other projects, whether privately or publicly funded, are bringing to Talladega and St. Clair counties. Until we can cut the current jobless rate in half and return to full employment— and even beyond that— we will welcome jobs in every sector. We’re all in this together.