Nebraska's Jobless Rate Spikes to 8.3 Percent in April

As expected, Nebraska’s unemployment rate more than doubled last month compared to the same month last year. The Nebraska Department of Labor reports the state’s April jobless rate was 8.3 percent, the highest rate since early 1983. The rate last April was 3.1 percent. The hardest hit job sectors were leisure and hospitality and transportation and utilities. Labor Commissioner John Albin says there was a sliver of encouraging news.

“Nebraska has held-up very well in this process,” Albin said. “We are the third lowest unemployment rate in the entire nation. Only Connecticut and Minnesota are lower than we are, so we’ve weathered the storm as well as any, better than most.”

Between March 8 and May 16, more than 120,000 Nebraskans filed initial jobless claims. Non-farm employment in Nebraska dropped below a million in April for the first time since 2011.