LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — New U.S. Census Bureau figures show the loss of population in rural Nebraska may be slowing.

According to the bureau’s 2016 updates to population figures for counties and metropolitan areas, more Nebraska counties are gaining population than a decade ago.

David Drozd, research coordinator for the Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, says 30 counties gained population between 2010 and 2016, compared with only 18 from 2000 through 2006.

He says 17 of the state’s 93 counties have lost at least 5 percent of their population in the first six years of this decade, less than half the 39 that did so from 2000 through 2006.