Authorities say Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate declined to 3.7 percent in April after registering 3.8 percent for four straight months.

The Nebraska Labor Department says in a report released Friday that the rate was three-tenths of a point lower than in April 2012 and less than half the national April rate of 7.5 percent for this year.

The 3.7 percent was the second-lowest state unemployment figure in the country, trailing only North Dakota’s 3.3 percent for April.