The Nebraska Department of Labor (NDOL) announced today that Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate for July 2022 is 2.0 percent, seasonally adjusted. The rate is up 0.1 percentage points from the June 2022 rate and is down 0.5 percentage points from the July 2021 rate of 2.5 percent.  National unemployment rate rankings are available here: bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm. Nebraska’s July rate is the second lowest rate in the country.

“The manufacturing industry in Nebraska has been showing strong growth, adding 2,733 jobs over the year,” said Commissioner of Labor John H. Albin. “With employment at nearly 103,000, this is the largest employment number since January of 2003.”

Over one million Nebraskans have been employed since August of 2020. 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 1,033,296 in July, down 8,898 over the month and up 19,861 over the year.  Private industries with the most growth month to month were leisure and hospitality (up 1,948), professional and business services (up 1,862), and manufacturing (up 584).  Private industries with the most growth year to year were professional and business services (up 6,196); leisure and hospitality (up 5,294); and trade, transportation, and utilities (up 4,188).

The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July 2022 is 3.5 percent, down 0.1 percent from the June 2022 rate and down 1.9 percentage points from the July 2021 rate of 5.4 percent.

August 2022 Nebraska labor force and employment data will be published Friday, September 16, 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.

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