LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska’s unemployment rate of 3.1% remained unchanged in November, the fifth straight month the rate has remained at that figure.
The Nebraska Labor Department said in a news release Friday that the preliminary November rate was three-tenths of a point higher than the adjusted November 2018 rate of 2.8%.
The Nebraska rate is below November’s national preliminary rate of 3.5%, which is down a tenth of a point from 3.6% in October and down two-tenths of a point from the November 2018 rate of 3.7%.
The department says Nebraska’s nonfarm employment rose last month more than 14,600 over the year-ago figure and was up more than 1,740 over October.
Private industries with the most growth year-over-year were leisure and hospitality, up 2,473; professional and business services, up 2,465; and mining and construction, up 1,624. Month to month, the largest gains were seen in trade, transportation and utilities, up 4,857; professional and business services, up 451; and education and health, up 358.
The preliminary Omaha-area unemployment rate for November remained 2.7%, the same rate as October, the report said. The November 2018 figure was 2.8%.
Lincoln’s preliminary rate fell last month to 2.6% from October’s 2.7%. The figure in November 2018 was 2.1%.
Grand Island’s preliminary rate plummeted to 2.8% last month from 4.2% in October. The year-ago November figure was 2.5%.
Unemployment rates for Grand Island, Lincoln and Omaha have not been seasonally adjusted, so they cannot be directly compared with the state unemployment rate.
Here are preliminary area labor-market unemployment rates for November, followed by the October rates:
- Beatrice: 2.9%, 3.2%
- Columbus: 2.6%, 2.8%
- Fremont: 2.6%, 2.8%
- Hastings: 2.9%, 3.0%
- Kearney: 2.4%, 2.6%
- Lexington: 2.6%, 2.8%
- Norfolk: 2.5%, 2.6%
- North Platte: 3.2%, 3.5%
- Red Willow: 2.6%, 2.9%
- Scottsbluff: 3.4%, 3.3%
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