INCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska Labor Department says the state’s unemployment rate remained 2.8 percent in December – the fifth month in a row at the figure.

The department said in a news release Friday that the rate is down a tenth of a point from the December 2017 rate of 2.9 percent.

Last month’s Nebraska rate was well below the national preliminary December figure of 3.9 percent – a rise of two-tenths of a point from November.

Nonfarm employment in December was nearly 1.04 million – up nearly 12,600 over the year but down more than 3,700 over the month.