Nebraska ties for third lowest unemployment rate in nation in June

LINCOLN, Neb. – Nebraska’s unemployment rate remained unchanged in new data released Friday.

According to the Nebraska Department of Labor, the state’s June unemployment rate was 1.9%, the same as it was in May.

That rate leaves Nebraska tied with Vermont for the third-lowest unemployment rate in the country. The national unemployment rate is 3.6%.

South Dakota and New Hampshire tied for the lowest rate at 1.8%.  

“This is the second consecutive month Nebraska reached a new high in nonfarm employment,” said Nebraska Commissioner of Labor John H. Albin. 

Albin attributed the new high in June to a large over-the-month increase in the Omaha metro area.

June was the fourth straight month of record highs both in the total Nebraska labor force (1,062,783) and the number of employed workers in the labor force (1,042,325). The counts of employed and unemployed in the labor force are based on a survey conducted by the Census Bureau regarding employment status. 

Both individuals who are claiming unemployment benefits and those who are not claiming 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.