Unemployment rose in May both in the Lincoln area and in the state as a whole.
According to data released Friday by the Nebraska Department of Labor, Nebraska's unemployment rate was 3% in May, up from 2.9% in April and 2.8% in May 2018.
The unemployment rate in the Lincoln Metropolitan Statistical Area was 2.8% in May, up from 2.7% in April and 2.5% a year ago.
The good news, the Labor Department said in a news release, is that the increase in unemployment is likely because of more people looking for work rather than a decline in employment.
The state labor force grew to a record 1,034,288 in May. While the number of people employed grew by more than 12,700 compared with a year ago, the number of unemployed people grew by more than 2,000, which led to the increase in the unemployment rate.
People are also reading…
There were 1,039,501 jobs statewide in May, the Labor Department said, up more than 13,000 from a year ago.
In the Lincoln metro area, which includes Lancaster and Seward counties, it was a similar story.
The Lincoln-area labor force grew by nearly 3,000 people in May compared with a year ago, with more than 2,200 more people employed and more than 750 added to the unemployment ranks.
The number of jobs in the Lincoln area also increased, up more than 1,900 from a year ago to 193,225.
The state and local unemployment rates continued to be well below the national rate, which was 3.6% in May.