The Nebraska Department of Labor (NDOL) announced today that Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate for April was 3.0 percent, seasonally adjusted. The rate declined 0.1 percentage points from the March 2017 rate of 3.1 percent and is down 0.2 percentage points from the April 2016 rate.

“The Omaha Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) had over 500,000 nonfarm jobs in April, the first time the Omaha MSA has hit this milestone in the month of April,” said Commissioner of Labor John H. Albin. “Strength in the Omaha economy can also be seen in the unemployment rate, which dropped to 2.9%, not seasonally adjusted, in April.”

Nonfarm employment was 1,023,871, up 9,875 over the year and up 10,625 over the month. Private industries with the most growth year over year were professional and business services (up 2,506), education and health services (up 2,196), and financial activities (up 1,692). March to April, the largest gains were seen in mining and construction (up 3,980); leisure and hospitality (up 2,838); and professional and business services (up 1,579).

The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for April was 4.4 percent, down 0.1 percentage points from the March 2017 rate of 4.5 percent and down 0.6 percentage points from the March 2016 rate of 5.0 percent.

For more April data, go to dol.nebraska.gov/InfoLink. Nonfarm employment data can be found at NEworks.nebraska.gov/CES and Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) data can be found at NEworks.nebraska.gov/LAUS. May 2017 data is scheduled for release on Friday, June 16.