Although the numbers of unemployed people continue to rise in Nebraska, and recession has been declared nationally,  the state’s monthy employment estimates showed Nebraska and the Lincoln area are so far resisting the dramatic loss of jobs posted nationally and elsewhere.

The estimated state unemployment rate remained steady at 3.6 percent in October, compared to the revised rate for September.

Jobs dropped statewide by more than 100 for the month, to a total of 978,742,  but the state’s total is still more than 6,500 above what it was a year ago, according to data released by the Nebraska Workforce Development-Department of Labor. 

The state unemployment rate was 3.1 percent a year ago, demonstrating that both employment and unemployment have been growing. 

Labor Commissioner Catherine D. Lang said the state rate remains well below Nebraska’s 5.9 percent high of October 1982, when there were almost 47,000 people unemployed. In October of this year, there were 36,362 Nebraskans unemployed, compared to almost 31,000 a year ago. 

The national unemployment rate for October 2008 rose to 6.5 percent. This is 1.7 percentage points higher than last year’s October rate.

The Lincoln area’s unemployment rate, meanwhile, dropped to 2.9 percent in October from 3.0 percent in September.  It was 2.6 percent a year ago.

A separate estimate of jobs in the Lincoln Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Lancaster and Seward counties, showed a total of 177,136 in October, up 921 for the month and 1,150 from a year ago.

The number of unemployed people in the LMSA, at 4,946, was lower than any of the past four months and is well below the 5,526 high of October 2006, but is up 612, 14.1 percent, from a year ago.

The number of employed people locally, 165,926, is at the highest point in any October since 1990, the state data showed.

Other parts of the state were less fortunate. The Beatrice area, for example, had an unemployment rate of 5.2 percent, up from 4.6 percent in September.

The state’s trend is clearly toward higher unemployment.

Last week, in a briefing for news media, staff from the department said they are adding temporary staff to help handle the rapidly growing number of initial unemployment claims.

Those claims, when they have contested issues, are taking longer to handle because of the volume.

 The number of new jobless claims in the week ending Nov. 22 jumped 80 percent, to 2,117, between last year and this year. The state’s numbers for October show 7,619 initial claims, up 42.5 percent from a year ago. 

Not all initial claims are approved for benefits.  Meanwhile, the federal government has extended and will finance extended unemployment benefits for those who qualify.