Rate is Lowest in State’s History

LINCOLN - The Nebraska Department of Labor (NDOL) announced today that Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate for March 2022 is 2.0 percent, seasonally adjusted. The rate is down 0.1 percentage points from the February 2022 rate of 2.1 percent and down 0.6 percentage points from the March 2021 rate of 2.6 percent.  Unemployment data goes back to 1976, and the rate is the lowest on record for Nebraska. National unemployment rate rankings are available here: https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm. Nebraska’s March rate is tied for lowest rate in the country.

“The number of people employed statewide has reached another record high,” said Commissioner of Labor John H. Albin. “Both the statewide labor force employment of 1,037,823 and the Lincoln metro’s employment of 186,996 are record highs.”

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 1,017,795 in March, up 4,546 over the month and up 24,891 over the year.  Private industries with the most growth month to month were mining and construction (up 1,842); leisure and hospitality (up 1,484); and trade, transportation, and utilities (up 1,364).  Private industries with the most growth year to year were leisure and hospitality (up 6,763); trade, transportation, and utilities (up 6,419); and education and health services (up 3,434).

The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for March 2022 is 3.6 percent, down 0.2 percentage points from the February 2022 rate of 3.8 percent and down 2.4 percentage points from the March 2021 rate of 6.0 percent.

April 2022 Nebraska employment data will be published Friday, May 20, 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.

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