LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate was unchanged at 2.8 percent in September, a figure credited in part to a good month for the state’s manufacturing sector, the state Labor Department said Friday.

The rate was down a tenth of a point from the year-ago figure of 2.9 percent, the state report said.

“Manufacturing contributed to another strong month of employment numbers, with a 5 percent statewide employment increase in manufacturing over the year,” state Labor Commissioner John Albin said. “In the Omaha metropolitan area, manufacturing jumped over 9 percent over the year.”

Last month’s rate was well below the U.S. number, which dropped two-tenths of a point to 3.7 percent in September from 3.9 percent in August.

Nebraska nonfarm employment was 1,037,445, up 18,065 over the year and up 4,148 over the month, the department said.

Private industries with the most growth year on year were manufacturing, up 4,906; leisure and hospitality, up 4,736; and professional and business services, up 4,374.

Month to month, the largest gains were seen in professional and business services, up 982; manufacturing, up 448; and education and health services, up 48.

The preliminary Omaha-area rate for September declined to 2.6 percent from 2.8 in August. The new rate was a tenth of a point lower than the 2.7 percent of September 2017. Lincoln’s preliminary rate dropped two-tenths of a point, hitting 2.4 percent, compared with 2.6 percent in August. The year-ago figure was 2.5 percent. Grand Island’s preliminary rate for September was 2.6 percent, down two-tenths of a point from August’s 2.8 percent. The August 2017 figure also was 2.6 percent.

The unemployment rates for Grand Island, Lincoln and Omaha have not been seasonally adjusted, so they cannot be directly compared with the state unemployment rate.

Here are preliminary area labor market unemployment rates for September, followed by the August rates:

— Beatrice: 2.7, 2.9

— Columbus: 2.4, 2.6

— Fremont: 2.5, 2.7

— Hastings: 2.7, 2.8

— Kearney: 2.2, 2.4

— Lexington: 2.4, 2.5

— Norfolk: 2.2, 2.4

— North Platte: 2.6, 2.8

— Red Willow: 2.5, 2.8

— Scottsbluff: 3.0, 3.1

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Hy-Vee has recalled six meat and potato products for possible salmonella and listeria contamination.

The company says the potential danger was discovered when McCain Foods, a Hy-Vee supplier, announced it was recalling its caramelized mushrooms and fire-roasted tomatoes, which are ingredients used in the Hy-Vee products.

No illnesses have been reported.

The Hy-Vee products are:

— Hy-Vee Bacon Wrapped Cowgirl Chicken Grillers — 8 ounce each, UPC Code 023092600000

— Hy-Vee Fire Roasted Tomato, Spinach, Mozzarella Twice Baked Potato — 5 ounce each, UPC Code 023755400000

— Hy-Vee Cowgirl Chicken Griller Patty — 6 ounce each, UPC Code 023100200000

— Hy-Vee Gourmet Steakhouse Mushroom & Swiss Burger — 6 ounce each, UPC Code 023168400000

— Hy-Vee Ground Beef Sliders Mushroom & Swiss — 2 ounce each, UPC Code 023164300000

— Hy-Vee Ground Beef Sliders Mushroom & Swiss — 12 count, 30 ounces, UPC Code 023266600000

The products have a “best if used by” date of Oct. 22, 2018, or sooner.

The items can be returned to Hy-Vee stores for a full refund.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Police are investigating the death of a wounded man who was found on a Lincoln street.

The Lincoln Police Department says officers were sent to the scene a little before 8:30 p.m. Thursday to check a report about a man jumping out of a moving vehicle. Officers found 42-year-old Stacy Talbot, formerly of North Platte, who’d been shot in the chest.

Police said Friday that Talbot died about 45 minutes later at a Lincoln hospital.

No arrests have been reported.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Officials say plans are in the works for a new outdoor concert venue at the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island.

Station KSNB reports the idea found favor Tuesday when fair officials pitched it Tuesday to the Grand Island City Council.

The proposed venue could cost $10 million and could hold more than 10,000 people in a half covered arrangement. The Nebraska State Fair board members hope the new setting would open up Fonner Park up to more diverse performances and encourage more people to attend the fair at Fonner Park.

Rain caused two concerts to be moved inside this year.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s child welfare agency is moving forward with a new approach to child welfare cases designed to help more youths stay with their families.

The plan was outlined Thursday as part of a series of meetings held throughout the state. The new approach encourages case workers to spend more time with at-risk families, discuss solutions to their problems and work with them to create a network of positive influences, such as relatives or neighbors.

The Division of Children and Family Services borrowed the strategy from San Diego, which has seen a reduction in the number of serious abuse and neglect cases.

Division Director Matt Wallen says the system is intended to help families before their situations become too dire. He says children in danger will still be removed from homes.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials say a rare illness that can paralyze children has been confirmed in two Iowa cases and is suspected in one Nebraska case.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says at least 62 cases of acute flaccid myelitis have been confirmed in 22 states this year.

Dr. Mark Rupp is an infectious disease specialist for Nebraska Medicine in Omaha, and he says it’s “a mysterious disease, very rare and there’s a lot that we don’t understand about this.”

Iowa state medical director Caitlin Pedati says both Iowa patients were younger than 18 and were treated and then released from hospitals in western and central Iowa.

Health officials in Nebraska’s Douglas County say they’re investigating a possible case that could take up to three weeks to confirm.

POTTER, Neb. (AP) — A school superintendent says kangaroo meat was mixed with beef in chili served to students at a junior/senior high school in the Nebraska Panhandle.

And Potter-Dix Public Schools Superintendent Mike Williams vows it won’t happen again.

Williams said in a Wednesday letter to parents that head cook Kevin Frei at the Potter school told him he’d augmented the chili’s beef on Oct. 10 with kangaroo meat because it is lean and nutritious. It’s unclear how Frei obtained the kangaroo meat.

Williams says he doesn’t think the kangaroo meat was unhealthy or dangerous, but it was “without a doubt not a normal staple of our diet.”

He apologized for any anxiety the exotic ingredient may have caused.