By Katie Knapp
Omaha, NE – The Bureau of Labor Statistics is out with January's unemployment figures. In both states, the unemployment rate is lower than the national average of 4.9 percent.
Nebraska's unemployment rate is 2.9 percent and Iowa's is 3.6 percent, according to the BLS figures. In both states, those rates are nearly identical as in January 2007.
Iowa Workforce Development Director Elisabeth Buck says that state's economy grew at a moderate pace in January while the national economy struggled. Pottawattamie and Harrison Counties' unemployment rates stood at 4.9 percent in January, with the rate in Mills County slightly lower at 4.2 percent.
County-by-county figures for Nebraska aren't yet available.