Nebraska’s unemployment rate for December was steady at 4.1 percent but in most Southeast Nebraska counties the unemployment figures were on the rise.
In Richardson County the unemployment rate for December was up 4-tenths to 5.8 percent.  That is the fifth highest figure among the states 93 counties.
In Pawnee and Nemaha counties the unemployment rates for the month of December went up 7-tenths to 5.4 percent in Nemaha County and 3.9 percent in Pawnee County.
The Johnson County unemployment figure for January was 3.7 percent, up half a percentage point.  The Otoe Count rate was up 3 tenths to 4.2 percent.  Gage County was the only one in extreme Southeast Nebraska to see a decline in unemployment for the month.  The 4.6 percent figure was down 2-tenths from the November rate.                                                                                                                                              Nebraska’s 4.1 percent unemployment rate is less than half the national average of 8.5 percent.