       Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate in January was unchanged from December at 2.5%.
That’s up 4-10ths of a point from a year ago but still the 5th lowest rate in the country behind North Dakota’s 1.9% and South Dakota’s 2.1%
Some of the detailed information normally put out isn’t available, such as yearly comparisons within the state because the Bureau of Labor Statistics is in the midst of benchmarking.
Benchmarking is the agency’s annual process to review and revise numbers from last year by using the latest available data.
Benchmarked nonfarm employment data will be published a week from Friday, at which time comparisons to 2022 data will be available.
Nebraska Labor Commissioner John Albin says that in January, the state’s workforce grew by 5,111 from last January with number of employed workers up by 1,019 over the year.
Nonfarm employment, a count of filled jobs, did fall by 23,840 from December to 1,038,283. The private industry sectors that did add jobs were led by financial activities (up 413 jobs) and information (up 247 jobs).
The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January was 3.7%, the same as in December and a tenth of a point higher than last year.