Nebraska's March jobless rate sits at 3.8 percent

LINCOLN — Nebraska’s preliminary March unemployment rate of 3.8 percent matched the revised rates for the three previous months, state officials said in a report released Friday.

The rate was two-tenths of a point lower than in March 2012 and half the national March rate of 7.6 percent for this year, the Nebraska Labor Department said in a news release.

The 3.8 percent was the second-lowest figure in the country, trailing only North Dakota’s 3.3 percent for March.

Nonfarm employment rose by nearly 4,000 jobs in March. According to the state report, the three Nebraska industries showing the largest job gains were leisure and hospitality, mining and construction, and professional and business services.

The number of unemployed Nebraskans dropped to 39,007 from 39,702 in February. A year ago the figure was 40,206.

In Nebraska’s largest city, Omaha, preliminary unemployment dropped to 4.3 percent from 4.6 percent in February. The rate a year ago was 4.7 percent. Lincoln’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.5 percent, compared with a revised 3.8 percent in February. A year ago, the city’s March rate was 3.7 percent.

The unemployment rates for Lincoln and Omaha are not seasonally adjusted, the department has said, so they cannot be directly compared to the state unemployment rate.

Here are preliminary area labor market unemployment rates for March, followed by the revised February rates:

— Beatrice: 4.0, 4.6

— Columbus: 3.2, 3.6

—Fremont: 4.1, 4.3

—Grand Island: 3.6, 3.9

— Hastings: 3.7, 3.9

— Kearney: 3.1, 3.3

— Lexington: 4.0, 4.7

— Norfolk: 3.6, 3.9

— North Platte: 3.5, 3.9

— Red Willow: 3.2, 3.4

— Scotts Bluff: 4.2, 4.7