(KLZA)-- While the Nebraska unemployment rate notched down one tenth of a percentage point in February to 3.1 percent,  the local jobless rate in Southeast Nebraska was on the rise. 

In Richardson County the unemployment rate increased nearly a full percentage point from January to 3.7 percent.

Pawnee County had the lowest jobless rate at 2.6 percent. The highest unemployment rate in the area was 4.1 percent in Johnson County.  

The Nemaha County, Nebraska unemployment rate was2.7 percent;  Otoe County was 3.3 percent and Gage was 3.7 percent.

The state unemployment rate of 3.1 percent is the third best in the country behind the 2.9 percent rate in South Dakota and 3 percent in Utah.

Kansas ranks 5th at 3.2 percent, Iowa is tied for 6th at 3.3 percent and Missouri is 13th at 4.2 percent.