LINCOLN - The Nebraska Department of Labor (NDOL) announced today that Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate for July 2024 is 2.6 percent, seasonally adjusted. The rate is unchanged from the June 2024 rate and is up 0.3 percentage points from the July 2023 rate of 2.3 percent.  Nebraska's rate is ranked fifth lowest in the nation. National unemployment rate rankings are available here: bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm.   

“The total labor force in the Omaha and Grand Island metro statistical areas hit all-time highs in July of 515,213 and 47,227, respectively,” said Commissioner of Labor John H. Albin. “Omaha’s employment went up 5,126 over the month and Grand Island’s employment reached a record high of 45,871."

The counts of employed and unemployed in the labor force are based on a survey conducted by the Census Bureau regarding employment status. Individuals who are claiming unemployment benefits and those who are not claiming unemployment benefits 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, reached 1,073,642, down 7,258 over the month and up 24,301 over the year. The month-over-month decline is due to normal seasonal declines in education employment. Private industries with the most growth month to month were private education and health services (up 1,178 jobs); professional and business services (up 474 jobs); and manufacturing (up 306 jobs). Private industries with the most over-the-year growth were private education and health services (up 8,160 jobs); manufacturing (up 4,760 jobs); and leisure and hospitality services (up 3,888 jobs).

The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July 2024 is 4.3 percent, up 0.2 percentage points from the June 2024 rate of 4.1 percent and up 0.8 percentage points from the July 2023 rate of 3.5 percent.

August 2024 Nebraska employment data will be published Friday, September 20, 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