Nebraska’s unemployment rate is fifth lowest in country

LINCOLN — Nebraska’s latest available 2.5% unemployment rate remained steady compared to the month before, while the nation’s clocked in at 3.7%, according to data released Monday.

Nationally, Nebraska was ranked fifth among states for low unemployment, behind North Dakota, which had a 1.9% rate; South Dakota, 2.1%; and Maryland and Vermont, both 2.3%.

The latest data, which is seasonally adjusted, tracked activity in January.

The Labor Bureau’s release was delayed due to the annual benchmarking revision process. February data is to be released later this month.

For January, the state’s 2.5% unemployment rate was unchanged from the revised rate a month previously, but it was up from the 2.1% rate recorded a year ago in January.

Meanwhile, the national seasonally adjusted and preliminary 3.7% unemployment rate for January also was reported to be unchanged from December, but it was up from 3.4% the previous January.

Nebraska Labor Commissioner John Albin said the state’s labor force — which includes all people 16 and older who are either working or actively looking for work — grew by about 5,111 in the year from January 2023 to January 2024 to about 1.05 million people.

“The number of employed workers increased by 1,019 over the year,” he said.

The number of filled nonfarm jobs was 1.038 million in January, down about 23,840 over the month before, the state’s media release reported. Private industries with the most month-to-month growth turned up to be those tied to financial and information services.

The counts of employed and unemployed in the labor force are based on a Census Bureau survey regarding employment status.

Individuals who are claiming unemployment benefits, as well as those who are not claiming them, can be counted as unemployed based on their response to the survey.

Those who are not working and are not seeking work are not considered part of the labor force and aren’t included in the unemployment calculation.