Alabama Employment Discrimination Complaints Drop

(AP) - Workplace discrimination charges in Alabama dropped nearly 10 percent in 2011.

The Birmingham News reports that the state bucked a national trend with the falling number of U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaints.

Workplace discrimination charges hit a record high across the U.S. last year, but in Alabama the number of complaints fell from 3,449 in 2010 to 3,099 last year.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Experts say bias cases typically rise when unemployment rates are high, and that Alabama's falling jobless rate may contribute to the drop in complaints.

The state's jobless rate was 8.1 percent in December, down from 10 percent six months earlier.