Monthly State Unemployment Rate Dips to 2.8 Percent

Release Date: 3/23/2018

The Nebraska Department of Labor (NDOL) announced today that Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate for February was 2.8 percent, seasonally adjusted. The rate declined 0.1 percentage points from the January 2018 rate of 2.9 percent and is down 0.2 percentage points from the February 2017 rate of 3.0 percent.

“The labor force and number of employed workers both increased again in February and nearly 55,000 jobs with Nebraska employers were listed on NEworks.nebraska.gov,” said Commissioner of Labor John H. Albin. “The Department of Labor continues to facilitate job fairs and other activities to connect employers with workers who are looking to become reemployed or find better opportunities.”

Nonfarm employment for February was 1,006,857. The private industries with the most growth over the month were education and health services, up 1,087; leisure and hospitality, up 674; and other services, up 438. The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for February was 4.1 percent unchanged from the January 2018 rate of 4.1 percent and down 0.6 percentage points from the February 2017 rate of 4.7 percent.

March 2018 data and benchmarked labor force and workforce data will be published Friday, April 20. For more February 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.