Nebraska’s December Unemployment Rate Remains at 3.0

Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate for December 2025 is 3.0 percent, seasonally adjusted. The rate has been unchanged in the last eight months that data was collected and is up 0.1 percentage points from the December 2024 unemployment rate of 2.9 percent.

The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for December 2025 is 4.4 percent, down 0.1 percentage points from the November 2025 unemployment rate and up 0.3 percent from the December 2024 unemployment rate.  National unemployment rate rankings are available here: https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm.

“Nebraska continues the streak of a record high labor force,” said Commissioner of Labor Katie Thurber.  “The preliminary employment level for December is over 1,066,000, up over 2,000 from November.”

The labor force includes both employed workers and those who are actively looking for work. The counts of employed and unemployed in the labor force are based on a survey conducted by the Census Bureau regarding employment status.  Both individuals who are claiming unemployment benefits and those who are not claiming 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.

Nonfarm employment, the number of jobs filled, was 1,059,247 in December, down 5,489 over the month and down 6,463 over the year.  Private industries with the most over-the-month growth were trade, transportation and utilities (up 1,623 jobs), other services (up 343 jobs), and information (up 91 jobs). The industries with the highest over-the-year growth were private education and health services (up 4,464 jobs), mining and construction (up 1,353 jobs), and other services (up 550).

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has not yet announced the release date for January 2026 employment data.  More information will be released as it becomes available.

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) programs such as the Current Employment Statistics (CES) and Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) provide preliminary monthly snapshots of labor market conditions. Data is revised monthly as more information becomes available. The annual BLS benchmarking process can also result in data revisions.

Nebraska employment data is available at www.dol.nebraska.gov/INFOlink and www.NEworks.nebraska.gov.  NDOL press releases are accessible here: www.dol.nebraska.gov/PressRelease