LINCOLN - Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate for December 2023 is 2.3 percent, seasonally adjusted. The rate was unchanged from the November 2023 rate of 2.3 percent and is down 0.4 percentage points from the December 2022 rate of 2.7 percent. Nebraska was ranked fifth in the nation. National unemployment rate rankings are available here: bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm.   

“Employment in private education and health services reached a new all-time high for the fourth straight month at over 166,000 in December,” said Commissioner of Labor John H. Albin. “Manufacturing employment saw another monthly increase, and total statewide nonfarm employment increased by over 11,000 compared to December 2023.”

Nonfarm employment, a count of filled jobs, was 1,054,500 in December, down 925 over the month and up 11,473 over the year.  Private industries with the most growth month to month were trade, transportation, and utilities (up 2,441 jobs); private education and health services (up 801 jobs); and manufacturing (up 327 jobs).  Private industries with the most over the year growth were private education and health services (up 7,619 jobs), leisure and hospitality (up 2,371 jobs), and trade, transportation, and utilities (up 2,308 jobs).

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.

The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for December 2023 is 3.7 percent, unchanged from the November 2023 rate. The rate is up 0.2 percentage points from the December 2022 rate of 3.5 percent.

Employment data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and NDOL are subject to revisions monthly and annually. For more information, visit www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cestn.htm#section7.

Due to the annual data benchmarking revision process, January 2024 preliminary Nebraska employment data will be published Monday, March 11. Preliminary February 2024 data will be published Friday, March 22.

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.