   Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate for June was unchanged at 1.9%
. That matches the lowest in state history and ties for third-lowest in the country with Vermont behind the all-time record 1.8% of South Dakota and New Hampshire.
It’s also only about half of the national unemployment rate for June of 3.6%, which was a tenth of a point lower than May and the same as last June.
The jobless rates for both Lincoln and Omaha jumped 4-10ths of a point from May to hit 2.6% in Omaha and 2.4% in Lincoln. Both are 2-10ths of a point lower than last year.
Grand Island had a June rate of 2.3%, up 3-10ths for the month but down 2-10ths from a year ago, while the Scottsbluff micropolitan statistical area came in at 2.9%, half a point above May, but down a tenth of a point for the year.
State figures are adjusted for seasonal factors while local numbers are not, making comparisons between the two meaningless.
Commissioner of Labor John Albin says the low unemployment rate isn’t the only good news in the June figures.
It was the 4th straight month of record highs both in the total labor force (1,062,783) and the number of employed workers (1,042,325), and the 2nd straight with a new high in nonfarm employment – a count of filled jobs.
Albin says the record of 1,056,575 filled jobs was due in large part to a new record for Omaha of 514,707. The number of new jobs rose 10,429 from May and grew by 27,157 compared to last June.
Private industry sectors adding the most jobs in the month were leisure and hospitality (up 3,455), mining and construction (up 1,833), and trade, transportation and utilities (up 1,457 jobs).
The sectors with the most growth over the last 12 months were private education and health services (up 6,899), leisure and hospitality service (up 6,021), and mining and construction (up 4,237 jobs).