(KLZA)-- The Nebraska Department of Labor reports unemployment figures in Southeast Nebraska were higher in January while statewide the unemployment rate was steady.

The highest unemployment rate in the area is Nemaha and Gage counties at 3.6 percent. Gage County had the largest increase in unemployment at .7 percent.

The jobless rate in Richardson County was 3.4 percent, up 3-tenths of a point. The Johnson County rate was also 3.4 percent, up a tenth of a point.

Nemaha County had an unemployment rate of 3.6 percent, up a tenth.

Pawnee County has the best unemployment rate in the area at 2.8 percent, up a tenth of a point from January.

Statewide the unemployment rate was unchanged from January at 2.8 percent. That compares to the national average of 4-percent.