LINCOLN - The Nebraska Department of Labor (NDOL) announced today that Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate for December 2021 is 1.7 percent, seasonally adjusted. The rate is down 0.1 percentage points from the November 2021 rate of 1.8 percent and down 1.7 percentage points from the December 2020 rate of 3.4 percent.  Unemployment data goes back to 1976, and the December rate is the lowest on record for Nebraska and any state. National unemployment rate rankings are available here: https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm

“Nebraska’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate continues to drop, reaching another historical low in December,” said Commissioner of Labor John H. Albin. “December 2021 marks the fifth straight month that Nebraska has had a historically low unemployment rate.”

The counts of employed and unemployed in the labor force are based on a survey conducted by the Census Bureau regarding employment status.  Both individuals who are claiming unemployment benefits and those who are not claiming can be counted as unemployed based on their survey responses.  Individuals who are not working and are not seeking work are not considered part of the labor force and are not included in the unemployment rate calculation.

Nonfarm employment, a count of filled jobs, was 1,025,771 in December, down 4,003 over the month and up 22,627 over the year. Private industries with the most growth month to month were trade, transportation, and utilities (up 1,573); manufacturing (up 465); and other services (283).  Private industries with the most growth year to year were leisure and hospitality (8,441); education and health (up 4,201); and trade, transportation, and utilities (3,347).  

The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for December 2021 is 3.9 percent, down 0.3 percentage points from the November 2021 rate of 4.2 percent and down 2.8 percentage points from the December 2020 rate of 6.7 percent. 

Due to annual data benchmarking, January 2022 Nebraska employment data will be published on Monday, March 14, 2022.  February 2022 data will be published on Friday, March 25, 2022.

Employers looking for qualified applicants are encouraged to post their jobs for free on NEworks.nebraska.gov and partner with their closest job center to take advantage of programs geared at recruiting, upskilling, and expanding their workforce.  A list of job center locations can be found at dol.nebraska.gov/ContactUs.

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