LINCOLN - The Nebraska Department of Labor (NDOL) announced today that Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate for February 2023 is 2.3 percent, seasonally adjusted. The rate is down 0.2 percentage points from the January 2023 rate of 2.5 percent and is up 0.3 percentage points from the February 2023 rate of 2.0 percent.  National unemployment rate rankings are available here: bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm.   

“The number of Nebraskans employed statewide was up 1,765 over the month, while the number of unemployed was down 1,864,” said Commissioner of Labor John H. Albin.  “The state hasn’t seen an unemployment rate this low since June of 2022.”

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 1,031,710 in February, up 8,817 over the month and 22,673 over the year.  Private industries with the most growth month to month were leisure and hospitality (up 3,795 jobs), public education and health services (up 1,489 jobs) and professional and business services (up 1,422 jobs). Private industries with the most over the year growth were leisure and hospitality (up 5,852 jobs), mining and construction (up 4,844 jobs), and public education and health services (up 3,718 jobs).

The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for February 2023 is 3.6 percent, up 0.2 percentage points from the January 2023 rate of 3.4 percent.

March 2023 preliminary and February 2023 revised labor force and nonfarm employment data will be released Friday, April 21, along with 2018-2022 sub-state revised labor force data.

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 employment data is available at dol.nebraska.gov/INFOlink.  NDOL press releases are accessible here: dol.nebraska.gov/PressRelease