LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new report says Nebraska’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 2.9 percent in December.

The Nebraska Labor Department said in the report released Tuesday that the preliminary December rate is two-tenths of a point under the December 2014 rate of 3.1 percent.

The new Nebraska figure remained well below the preliminary national unemployment rate of 5 percent in December. U.S. Labor Department figures say the 2.9 percent rate reported for Nebraska and South Dakota is just above North Dakota’s 2.7 percent, the lowest rate in the nation.