Gov. Heineman Announces Nebraska Jobs to Reach All-Time Record High

Press Release

Today, Governor Dave Heineman announced Nebraska's significant job count growth is expected to top 1.1 million by 2015, a record high employment for the state. This historic achievement illustrates the significant and consistent focus on job growth and economic development in Nebraska throughout the last ten years, particularly in recruiting, retaining and growing desirable high demand, high wage and high skill careers.

"Nebraska's employment picture in 2014 is significant and substantial, and this record project for 2015 is outstanding news for Nebraskans," said Gov. Heineman. "We are experiencing continued growth in a number of key industries, and additional growth is projected. This employment record also speaks positively to our continued efforts of keeping our young people here in Nebraska with meaningful careers."

Job growth of approximately 2.5 percent is projected from 2013 to 2015. The record projection is based on recent growth patterns and current economic trends. The Nebraska unemployment rate for October was 3.4 percent, the lowest since 2008.

More than 200 occupations with projected growth through 2015 fall in the high wage, high skill and high demand category. Jobs are considered high demand based on the number of annual openings, the net change in employment and the growth rate. High wage jobs are categorized based on eight different rankings, including average hourly wage, entry wage and experienced wage. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has assigned education, work experience and job training as the factors determining a job's classification as high skill.

High demand jobs projected through 2015 include registered nurses, heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, accountants, market research analysts, carpenters, electricians and software developers.

"The jobs available due to growth are projected to occur in a wide variety of industries and occupations, including many high wage and high skill jobs," said Acting Commissioner of Labor John H. Albin.

A number of areas are expected to contribute to the 27,000 jobs the state is expected to add from 2013 through 2015. The education and health services areas are projected to add more than 6,800 jobs, with nearly 5,000 of these expected in health care and social assistance. One of the fastest growing industries within health care is ambulatory health care services, projected to grow by nearly 5 percent and add more than 1,700 jobs by 2015. The professional and business services arena is expected to gain more than 5,500 jobs. In the goods-producing industries, construction is expected to add more than 2,900 jobs and grow nearly 6.5 percent. Service-providing industries represent the majority of the remaining jobs.

Projections are based both on recent growth patterns and current economic trends. Nebraska's non-farm job count, which excludes agriculture and self-employed individuals, grew nearly 32,500 statewide from January to October. The monthly job counts this year are up an average of nearly 9,000 jobs over the 2013 monthly figures. The largest amount of growth over the last year occurred in trade, transportation and utilities, increasing by nearly 3,000 jobs. Education and health services; financial services; manufacturing; and professional and business services also saw gains.

There are currently more than 37,000 job openings posted on NEworks, the state's online labor exchange system. The NEworks free mobile app gives users the option to search jobs by company, job title, and location. Detailed labor market information, career exploration resources, employer information, and assessment tools are also available on NEworks.

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