workLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Labor Department says the state’s preliminary unemployment rate dropped slightly in October to 2.7 percent, reaching a low that hasn’t been seen since 1999.

The department said in a report released Friday that the figure was one-tenth of a percentage point lower than the September rate of 2.8 percent.

The report says the October rate was six-tenths of a point under the year-ago rate of 3.3 percent. The October rate also remained well below the U.S. rate, which dipped slightly to 4.1 percent for the month.

The report says Nebraska nonfarm employment in October was up 10,379 over the year and up 1,624 over the month.