State Tied For Best Unemployment Rate By Klark Byrd kbyrd@suntelegraph.com SIDNEY - With the longest recession since World War II still claiming the jobs of millions of Americans, it seems like a good time to live in the Midwest. Well, that is if you like having a job. According to the latest data released by the U.S. Department of Labor, Nebraska tied North Dakota for the best unemployment rate in the nation at 4.4 percent. For Nebraska, that was a decrease from 4.5 percent in April. Cheyenne County helped lower that rate when its rate decreased .3 percent to 4.1 percent in May. Since March, the county’s unemployment rate has decreased .6 percent. According to Nebraska Workforce Development, there were 217 people in the county receiving unemployment compensation, while 5,028 people were employed. Cheyenne County’s unemployment rate is comparable to other counties in the state with similar-sized workforces such as Wayne and York, with 3.8 percent and 4.1 percent unemployment rates, respectively. One of the hardest hit counties is Thurston County with an unemployment rate of 8.4 percent with a workforce of just more than 3,000 people. Typically counties with small workforces have small unemployment rates such as Logan County, with an unemployment rate of 2.5 percent - the best in the state - but with a workforce of only 471. That means there are 12 people receiving unemployment compensation in the county. In June, Nebraska Turkey Growers in Gibbon closed, releasing 206 employees. That was the largest number of employees released by closing or layoff for the month. “The number of large layoffs and business closures that have been reported recently have declined,” said Labor Commissioner Catherine Lang. According to an Associated Press report on Wednesday, Nebraska state agencies have eliminated seven employee positions in an effort to deal with budget woes. State personnel director Mike McCrory says the layoff plans were approved according to labor union agreements. Three layoffs were effective Tuesday, four will be effective July 17. Two positions were eliminated from the Game and Parks Commission, two from the Department of Agriculture and three from the Historical Society. McCrory says the number of layoffs was kept low because departments found ways to re-engineer jobs or did not fill vacant positions. However, McCrory says more layoffs could follow through the end of the year, depending on the effect of budget reductions or work reorganization. The Nebraska unemployment rate was 5 percent lower than the national rate in May, which stood at 9.4 percent. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, for the first time in months, the payroll declines dropped below 600,000 for the month to 345,000. That’s led analysts to believe America is in the beginning of the end of the recession. The department reported to government officials that as of May there were 14.5 million Americans unemployed. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the national unemployment rate increased 4.5 percent, representing 7 million unemployed people.