The Nebraska Department of Labor (NDOL) announced today that Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate for July was 2.9 percent, seasonally adjusted. The rate was unchanged from the June 2018 rate of 2.9 percent and is also unchanged from the July 2017 rate of 2.9 percent.

"July’s labor force employment of 985,660 Nebraskans marks six straight months of record highs," said Commissioner of Labor John H. Albin. "The unemployment rate has remained under 3 percent for 16 consecutive months."

Nonfarm employment was 1,033,228, up 1.9 percent over the year and down -0.8 percentage points over the month. Private industries with the most growth year over year were manufacturing (up 4,791), leisure and hospitality (up 4,160), and professional and business services (up 4,038). Month to month, the largest gains were seen in professional and business services (up 986), education and health services (up 831), and manufacturing (up 624).

The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July was 3.9 percent, down 0.1 percentage points from the June 2018 rate of 4.0 percent and down 0.4 percentage points from the July 2017 rate of 4.3 percent.

For more July data, go to dol.nebraska.gov/InfoLink. Nonfarm employment data can be found at NEworks.nebraska.gov/CES and Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) data can be found at NEworks.nebraska.gov/LAUS.

August 2018 data is scheduled for release on Friday, September 21, 2018.