LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Labor Department says the state’s preliminary unemployment rate dropped a tenth of a point in March, hitting 3.1 percent compared with 3.2 percent in February.

The January rate was 3.3 percent.

The department said in a report released Friday that the March rate was a tenth of a point under the year-ago rate of 3.2 percent in March 2016. The new rate also remained well below the U.S. rate of 4.5 percent in March.

The report says Nebraska nonfarm employment remained above 1 million last month. The private industry segments with the most growth over the past month were mining and construction, leisure and hospitality and trade, transportation and utilities.