Nebraska labor update: Unemployment rate ticks up; nonfarm workforce hits new record

Nebraska labor officials on Friday reported a bright spot in the workforce: Nonfarm employment in the Husker state has reached a new high.

“Total nonfarm employment reached a record high of 1,044,832 in October,” said Labor Commissioner John Albin. “That’s over 2,000 more filled jobs than the prior high reached in June of this year.”

October’s nonfarm employment is up about 8,500 filled jobs over the previous month and about 28,000 over last year at the same time, state labor officials said.

Also, according to newly released data, Nebraska’s preliminary and seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for October ticked up to 2.4% for October. That compares to 2.2% for the previous month and 2.4% for October of last year.

Nationally, the preliminary unemployment rate for October was 3.7%, up slightly from the previous month’s 3.5%, and down from the 4.6% of October 2021.

Nebraska trails four other states that have lower unemployment rates.

Private industries with the most growth in Nebraska since last year were trade, transportation and utilities (up about 6,000) and leisure and hospitality (up about 5,500).

Albin said that consistently since August 2020, more than 1 million Nebraskans have been employed.

In calculating unemployment rates, labor officials look at a survey conducted by the Census Bureau regarding employment status. Individuals who claim unemployment benefits and those who aren’t claiming them can both be counted as unemployed, depending on their survey responses.