Nebraska’s December 2024 Unemployment Rate is 2.8 Percent

LINCOLN - The Nebraska Department of Labor (NDOL) announced today that Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate for December 2024 is 2.8 percent, seasonally adjusted. The rate is unchanged from the November 2024 rate and is up 0.3 percentage points from the December 2023 rate of 2.5 percent. Nebraska's rate is ranked fifth lowest in the nation. National unemployment rate rankings are available here: bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm.  

“Nebraska’s labor force reached an all-time high for the second straight month at 1,059,931,” said Interim Commissioner of Labor Katie Thurber. “Our labor force has grown by over 2,000 over the month and over 4,000 over the year.” 

The counts of employed and unemployed in the labor force are based on a survey conducted by the Census Bureau regarding employment status. Individuals who are claiming unemployment benefits and those who are not claiming unemployment benefits 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.

Total non-farm employment, a count of filled jobs, was 1,028,791 in December, down 1,582 over the month and up 20,668 over the year. Private industries with the most growth month to month were trade, transportation, and utilities (up 2,234 jobs); private education and health services (up 927 jobs); and financial activities (up 542 jobs). Private industries with the most over-the-year growth were private education and health services (up 7,367 jobs); leisure and hospitality (up 2,341 jobs); and manufacturing (up (2,340 jobs).

The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for December 2024 is 4.1 percent, down 0.1 percent from the November 2024 rate and up 0.3 percentage points from the December 2023 rate of 3.8 percent.

Due to the annual data benchmarking revision process, January 2025 preliminary Nebraska employment data will be published Monday, March 17. Preliminary February 2025 data will be published Friday, March 28. Statewide Benchmarked Labor Force data from 1976 to 2024 will be available on NEworks at 9am on March 5, 2025.

Employers looking for qualified applicants are encouraged to post their jobs for free on NEworks.nebraska.gov and partner with their closest job center to take advantage of programs geared at recruiting, upskilling, and expanding their workforce.