Nebraska's unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in nearly 17 years in July, largely helped by job gains in several categories.
According to data released Friday by the Nebraska Department of Labor, the state's unemployment rate dropped to 2.8 percent last month, down from 2.9 percent in June and 3.2 percent in July 2016.
The Labor Department said it was the state's lowest unemployment rate since August 2000.
The number of people employed year over year was up 642 while the number unemployed fell by 4,556.
That was likely largely due to a large increase in the number of jobs. Nebraska added more than 14,000 jobs in the 12-month period between July 2016 and July 2017, with nearly 1,300 additional jobs in manufacturing.
"Several industry sectors have seen positive growth trends over the past few years. Financial activities, professional and businesses services, leisure and hospitality, and other services all reached new employment highs in July,†Commissioner of Labor John H. Albin said in a news release. “Manufacturing employment in July was also the highest it has been since August 2014.â€
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The Lincoln metropolitan area also saw its unemployment rate fall last month.
The July rate for the area, which includes Lancaster and Seward counties, was 2.7 percent, down from 2.8 percent in June and 3.2 in July 2016.
Lincoln also saw a healthy increase both in job numbers and in the numbers of people working.
According to the data, the Lincoln area had more than 1,600 additional people working in July compared with a year ago, and 878 fewer people unemployed.
The number of jobs in the Lincoln area was up more than 3,300 from July 2016 to July 2017, although the number of manufacturing jobs fell by 232. Lincoln's largest job gains came in leisure and hospitality and professional and business services.
Both the state and local unemployment rates remained well below the national rate, which was 4.3 percent in July.