County Unemployment Falls to 6.1 Percent

Both the state and local unemployment rates stayed relatively steady in October, according to the Nebraska Department of Labor.

The national unemployment rate fell to 5 percent in October from 5.1 percent in September.

Choctaw County is the only county to register an increase in its unemployment rate over the year, rising from 7.8% to 8.4%. Last month’s rate also was below the jobless rate from a year ago by two-tenths of a percent.

For example, he said, personal income grew 3.8 percent in the state from the first quarter of 2014 to 2015 or about $2,900 per person. At the same time, new claims for Unemployment Insurance were 46,203 in October, compared with 40,821 in September and 52,788 in October of past year.

Very low jobless rates are becoming more common.

The US rate of unemployment dropped in October to just 5% which many economists say is on a level close to full employment.

The national unemployment rate fell to 5 percent, down from 5.1 percent the month before. The largest over-the-year percentage increases occurred in Idaho (+3.8 percent), Utah (+3.5 percent), and Nevada (+3.4 percent). The September rate in New Mexico was 6.7 percent. Manufacturing shed 1,700 jobs over the month, posting Oklahoma’s largest job loss in October.

In October 2015, 23 states had statistically significant over-the-month changes in employment, all of which were positive.

But perhaps the most interesting difference, says Department of Economic Opportunity’s Jesse Panuccio, is what sectors added the most jobs in Jacksonville. West Virginia had the highest unemployment rate at 6.9 percent.

Other areas showing gains: professional/business services/administrative support (up 8,300), wholesale and retail trade (up 4,500) and entertainment (up 1,400).

The highest rate was in rural Hendry County on the southwest side of Lake Okeechobee, despite an improvement from 11.6 percent in September to 9.4 percent in October. If anything, holiday hiring has been a little more pronounced this year with sales activity coming earlier, Englehart said.