November 20, 2020

Rate is Lowest in the Nation for Third Straight Month 

LINCOLN - The Nebraska Department of Labor (NDOL) announced today that Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate for October is 3.0 percent, seasonally adjusted. The rate is down by 0.6 percentage points from the revised September 2020 rate of 3.6 percent and is unchanged from the October 2019 rate of 3.0 percent. The last time Nebraska’s rate was at this level was in the last four months of 2019.

“The total non-farm jobs count remained in excess of 1 million for the second consecutive month,” said Commissioner of Labor John H. Albin. “Growth occurred in metropolitan areas, as well as the rest of the state.”

Nonfarm employment was 1,010,560 in October, up 8,912 over the month and down 25,826 over the year. The month-to-month gain was the largest October increase on record. Private industries with the most growth year over year were education and health (up 2,981) and financial activities (up 1,567). Month to month, the largest gains were seen in education and health (up 3,265); trade, transportation and utilities (up 1,846); and professional and business services (up 1,745).

The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for October is 6.9 percent, a decrease of 1.0 percentage point from the September 2020 rate of 7.9 percent and up 3.3 percentage points from the October 2019 rate of 3.6 percent.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) issued the following statement regarding claims data and unemployment estimates: “Data users must be cautious about trying to compare or reconcile the UI claims data with the official unemployment figures gathered through the household survey. The unemployment data derived from the household survey in no way depend upon the eligibility for or receipt of UI benefits. In some cases, UI claims data exclude people who would be identified as unemployed in the household survey, like new entrants to the labor force with no prior work experience. In other cases, UI data may include individuals who do not meet the CPS definition of unemployment.”

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment and unemployment data can be found on the BLS website www.bls.gov/bls/bls-covid-19-questions-and-answers.htm

November 2020 Nebraska data will be published Friday, December 18, 2020.

More NDOL press releases are accessible here: https://dol.nebraska.gov/PressRelease