LINCOLN- Nebraska’s unemployment rate has reached 3% according to the latest labor report, up from 2.6% a year ago. The last time the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was at 3% was in December 2020. The rate for January was 2.9%. Prior to the pandemic, Nebraska’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was consistently around 3.0%, ranging from 2.8% to 3.2%.

Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate still remains among the lowest nationally, tying for the fifth lowest in the recently released data that reflects February. The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for February is 4.1%, up from 3.9% a year earlier. Labor Commissioner Katie Thurber said the uptick appears to be driven by an increase in the state labor force.

“When someone enters the labor force and begins searching for work, they are classified as unemployed until they find a job,” Thurber said. “Both new entrants and re-entrants into the labor force were up in February, and Nebraska’s labor force is now at an all-time high of 1,077,890 participants.”

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