LINCOLN — Nebraska’s latest unemployment rate ticked down a bit, to 2.9%, after having reached the 3% mark in February for the first time since during the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2020.

The Nebraska Department of Labor on Friday announced March’s 2.9% preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, noting that it tied Nebraska for the fifth-lowest unemployment rate in the country. The state’s unemployment rate, however, is up from the 2.6% reported a year ago for March 2024.

Nebraska Labor Commissioner Katie Thurber, in a news release, said the state’s overall labor force reached a record high of over 1,080,000 in March.

“The number of employed workers in the labor force also reached a new high statewide, driven by record highs in the Omaha and Lincoln metro areas,” she said.

The number of employed and unemployed people in the labor force are based on a U.S. Census Bureau survey on employment status. Individuals who are claiming unemployment benefits and those who are not claiming the benefits can be counted as unemployed based on their survey responses.

Those not working or seeking a job are not considered part of the labor force and are not included in the unemployment rate calculation.

Labor data released Friday showed that Nebraska private industries with the most growth over last year were public education and health services and construction and mining.

Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for March inched up to 4.2%, compared to the February rate of 4.1% and 3.9% the year before in March 2024.

Nevada, with 5.7%, reported the highest unemployment rate, followed by the District of Columbia, Michigan and California.

This story was published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. Read the original article: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/nebraska-unemployment-rate-ticks-dow...