The Nebraska Department of Labor (NDOL) announced today that Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate for March was 3.1 percent, seasonally adjusted. The rate declined 0.1 percentage points from the February 2017 rate of 3.2 percent and is down 0.1 percentage points from the March 2016 rate.

“Nebraska saw normal seasonal employment fluctuations in March,” said Commissioner of Labor John H. Albin. “Total nonfarm employment topped 1 million again, the 13th consecutive month that Nebraska has hit this mark.”

Nonfarm employment was 1,013,970, up 8,364 over the year and up 4,830 over the month. Private industries with the most growth year over year were professional and business services (up 3,076), education and health services (up 1,776), and trade, transportation and utilities (up 1,403). Month to month, the largest gains were seen in mining and construction (up 2,140); leisure and hospitality (up 1,637); and trade, transportation and utilities (up 604).

The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for March was 4.5 percent, down 0.2 percentage points from February and down 0.5 percentage points from the March 2016 rate of 5.0 percent.

Benchmarked nonfarm employment (Current Employment Statistics – CES) and labor force (Local Area Unemployment Statistics – LAUS) data is now available on the NEworks website. CES can be found at NEworks.nebraska.gov/CES and LAUS data at NEworks.nebraska.gov/LAUS. April 2017 data is scheduled for release on Friday, May 19.

The most recent data can be found at dol.nebraska.gov/InfoLink.