Nebraska’s November Unemployment Rate Remains 3.0 Percent

LINCOLN - Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate for November 2025 is 3.0 percent, seasonally adjusted.  The rate has been unchanged in the last seven months that data was collected and is up 0.1 percentage points from the November 2024 unemployment rate of 2.9 percent. October 2025 labor force statistics, including the unemployment rate, are not available, as key inputs necessary for producing these estimates were not collected due to the recent government shutdown.

The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for November 2025 is 4.6 percent, up 0.1 percentage points from the September 2025 unemployment rate and up 0.4 percentage points from the November 2024 unemployment rate. National unemployment rate rankings are available here: https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm.

“Nebraska has had a record high labor force for the 10 months that data has been collected in 2025,” said Commissioner of Labor Katie Thurber.  “November’s employment exceeded 1,064,000.”

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 1,064,419 in November, down 2,055 over the month and down 2,416 over the year.  Private industries with the most over-the-month growth were trade, transportation and utilities (up 2,797 jobs), manufacturing (up 383 jobs), and financial activities (up 350 jobs). The industries with the highest over-the-year growth were private education and health services (up 6,191 jobs), mining and construction (up 1,760 jobs), and other services (up 166).

December 2025 employment data will be released Tuesday, January 27, 2026, at 9 a.m. 

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