(KLZA)--Nebraska's unemployment rate has climbed to 3%, which is the highest rate of joblessness in the state since December of 2020.

One year ago the unemployment rate in Nebraska was 2.6%.

Nebraska's preliminary unemployment rate still remains among the lowest nationally, tying for fifth lowest in the recently released data that reflects February. The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for February is 4.1%, up from 3.9% a year earlier.

Labor Commissioner Katie Thurber said the uptick appears to be driven by an increase in the state labor force.

Locally in southeast Nebraska the unemployment rates ranged from a low of 3.2 percent in Otoe County to a high mark of 4.5% in Johnson County for the month of February.

Elsewhere the jobless rate was 3.3% in Richardson County; 3.7% in Nemaha County; 3.4% in Pawnee County and 3.6% in Gage County.