Nebraska’s September Unemployment Rate Holds Steady at 3.0

LINCOLN - Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate for September 2025 is 3.0 percent, seasonally adjusted. The rate is unchanged from the August 2025 unemployment rate and is up 0.1 percentage points from the September 2024 unemployment rate of 2.9 percent. The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for September 2025 is 4.4 percent, up 0.1 percentage points from the August 2025 unemployment rate and up 0.3 percent from the September 2024 unemployment rate.  State rankings will be released later this month at https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm.

“In September, statewide employment reached a historical high for the ninth consecutive month at over 1,059,500,” said Commissioner of Labor Katie Thurber. 

Nonfarm employment, the number of jobs filled, was 1,062,402 in September, down 239 over the month and up 440 over the year.  Private industries with the most over-the-month growth were financial activities (up 227 jobs), information (up 53 jobs), and manufacturing (up 34 jobs). The industries with the highest over-the-year growth were private education and health services (up 6,603 jobs), mining and construction (up 1,355 jobs), and other services (up 510).

The next data release is scheduled for Friday, January 9, 2026 at 9 a.m.  Data will include October and November 2025 statewide metropolitan area Current Employment Statistics (CES) nonfarm employment, along with November 2025 Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) labor force data. October 2025 employment data, including labor force measures and the unemployment rate, is not available, as key inputs necessary for producing these estimates were not collected due to the recent government shutdown.

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