LINCOLN - The Nebraska Department of Labor (NDOL) announced today that Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate for March 2024 is 2.5 percent, seasonally adjusted. The rate is unchanged from the February rate and is up 0.5 percentage points from the March 2023 rate of 2.0 percent. Nebraska was ranked fourth in the nation. National unemployment rate rankings are available here: bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm.   

“Nebraska’s unemployment rate has remained steady at 2.5 percent since September of 2023,” said Commissioner of Labor John H. Albin.  “The last time the rate stayed the same for six or more months was from December 2018 to July 2019.”

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 1,056,877 in March, up 7,742 over the month and 22,332 over the year.  Private industries with the most growth month to month were trade, transportation, and utilities (up 1,819 jobs); leisure and hospitality services (up 1,585 jobs); and mining and construction (up 1,276 jobs). Private industries with the most over-the-year growth were private education and health services (up 6,765 jobs); trade, transportation, and utilities (up 4,961 jobs); and leisure and hospitality services (up 3,384 jobs).

The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for March 2024 is 3.8 percent, down 0.1 percentage points from the February 2024 rate of 3.9 percent and up 0.3 percentage points from the March 2023 rate of 3.5 percent.

April 2024 Nebraska employment data will be published Friday, May 17, 2024

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