Nebraska's jobless situation is in a holding pattern until warmer weather, when construction jobs could begin to surface, state labor officials said Friday.
Statewide unemployment increased slightly to 4.8 percent during February from a revised January rate of 4.7 percent, according to the Nebraska Labor Department.
“We're just here, in this holding pattern,” said Cathy Lang, Nebraska Labor Commissioner. “We're just at a standstill and we will wait to see what spring brings.”
Statewide, the number of jobless grew by 1,176. Manufacturing jobs held steady, Lang said, while retail jobs, some of which were tied to the holiday season, declined by just more than 1,000 positions. In total, 47,215 Nebraskans were counted as unemployed; 938,374 had jobs.
The biggest area of employment growth was in education and health services, which added 1,028 jobs in the month.
“This (increase) isn't uncommon for this time of year,” Lang said. “We're just working through that winter period.”
In Iowa, the unemployment rate increased at the same clip as Nebraska's, growing to 6.7 percent from January's 6.6 percent rate.
About 1,800 more Iowans were unemployed in February than the previous month, totaling 112,500 people out of work.
Nonfarm employment increased by 700, a positive sign for the state's economy, Iowa labor officials said.
“Iowa's nonfarm employment has been in positive territory for two consecutive months, a sign that the state's tenuous recovery may be gaining momentum,” said Elisabeth Buck, director of Iowa Workforce Development. “Continued job growth will be crucial to sustain the turnaround, which started in the second half of last year.”
Both rates are significantly lower than the 9.7 percent national unemployment rate in February, but are higher than they were a year ago, and much higher than their historical averages.
Omaha's unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted for weather-related trends, held steady from January to February at 5.3 percent. Without the seasonal adjustment, the Omaha metro's jobless rate was 5.9 in February and 6.1 percent in January.
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