December 18, 2020

Rate is Lowest in the Nation for Fourth Straight Month

LINCOLN - The Nebraska Department of Labor (NDOL) announced today that Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate for November is 3.1 percent, seasonally adjusted. The rate is up by 0.1 percentage points from the revised October 2020 rate of 3.0 percent and is up slightly from the November 2019 rate of 3.0 percent.

“The number of employed Nebraskans in the labor force has reached 1 million for the first time since March,” said Commissioner of Labor John H. Albin. “We continue to see signs of recovery with more individuals looking for work.”

Nonfarm employment was 1,009,629 in November, down 2,005 over the month and down 27,983 over the year, with normal seasonally a factor. Private industries with the most growth year over year were education and health (up 3,740) and financial activities (up 1,569). Month to month, the largest gains were seen in trade, transportation and utilities (up 1,577), manufacturing (up 1,133), and education and health (up 973).

The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for November is 6.7 percent, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the October 2020 rate of 6.9 percent and up 3.2 percentage points from the November 2019 rate of 3.5 percent.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) issued the following statement regarding claims data and unemployment estimates: “Data users must be cautious about trying to compare or reconcile the UI claims data with the official unemployment figures gathered through the household survey. The unemployment data derived from the household survey in no way depend upon the eligibility for or receipt of UI benefits. In some cases, UI claims data exclude people who would be identified as unemployed in the household survey, like new entrants to the labor force with no prior work experience. In other cases, UI data may include individuals who do not meet the CPS definition of unemployment.”

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment and unemployment data can be found on the BLS website www.bls.gov/bls/bls-covid-19-questions-and-answers.htm   

December 2020 Nebraska data will be published Tuesday, January 26, 2020.