Jobs are all over Nebraska. Workers? Not so much | Local company

This was confirmed by figures released on Friday, which showed the August unemployment rate in the Lincoln Metropolitan Statistical Area to be 1.7%, the lowest on record in data dating back to 1990. The unemployment rate state rate of 2.2% was the lowest on record. go back to 1976.

Kawasaki hires for positions that start at $ 18 an hour and offer a full package of benefits. That’s a living wage, but it’s well below the average Lincoln manufacturing wage of over $ 21 an hour and the overall average for all jobs of nearly $ 24 an hour.

Seck said the benefits and regular full-time hours offered by the jobs attract people who have families or are looking for career stability.

“This is the security they are looking for,” he said.

It was that security, especially the benefits, that drew Jayric McDonald to Thursday’s job fair.

“This would be my first job,” said the 18-year-old Lincoln North Star High School graduate.

McDonald said his brother previously worked at Kawasaki and had good things to say about the company. He said his brother’s experience, combined with the pay and benefits that Kawasaki offers, was enticing.

Eric Thompson, director of the Bureau of Business Research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said Kawasaki, as a leading employer in Lincoln with nearly 2,500 workers, “will be more successful in hiring than most companies “, with the potential to attract already salaried workers looking for better pay and better benefits.