(KLZA)-- The Nebraska Department of Labor reports the state unemployment rate was 1.7%  in December, which is the lowest rate on record since data collection began in 1976.

Locally the unemployment rates ranged from a low of 1.1 percent in Pawnee, Nemaha and Otoe counties to a high of 1.3 percent in Johnson  County.  The unemployment rate was 1.2 percent in Richardson and Gage counties for December.

Nebraska's 1.7% jobless rate is the best in the U.S.  Utah ranked second with an unemployment rate at 1.9 percent followed by Oklahoma at 2.3 percent.