Published on August 7, 2021 by Morgan Black  
Thornton Jeremy

According to the U.S. Department of Labor's latest rankings, Birmingham, Alabama, had the second-lowest unemployment rate of metropolitan areas with more than a million people in June 2021. 

In response to this, The Wall Street Journal sought out expertise from local economists including Jeremy Thornton, associate dean and the Dwight Moody Beeson chair of business, in Samford University's Brock School of Business. 

In the article, Welcome to Birmingham, Ala., One of the U.S.'s Tightest Labor Markets, Thornton discusses local industries and their resistance to economic fluctuations.

The story also highlights The Essential, a restaurant in downtown Birmingham co-owned by alumnus Victor King '12 . King and his business partner, Kristen Hall, discuss how they're managing the effect the pandemic is having on their business.

Read The Wall Street Journal story here. 

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.