• While overall employment in the State of Nebraska increased 6.74% between 1997 and 2002, employment within the construction industry rose by 13.98%, creating 5,641 new construction jobs as well as the creation of 381 new construction establishments in 5 years.

• While the average worker in Nebraska brought home $28,901 in pay in 2002, the state’s construction workers made on average $30,604, an increase of 5.56% more than the average worker in Nebraska. 

• The number of businesses in Nebraska grew from 38,594 in 1997 to 40,246 in 2002, an increase of 4.28%.  Construction establishments in Nebraska however, increased by 7.33% from 5,198 in 1997 to 5,579 in 2002.

• Of the 1,652 new businesses established between 1997 and 2002 in Nebraska, 381 or 23.06% of those establishments were in the construction industry. 

• According to Union Membership and Coverage Database, available at www.unionstats.com, in 2006, only 9.1 percent of Nebraska’s private construction workforce belonged to a construction trade union.  That means that approximately 91 out of 100 Nebraska’s private construction workers do not belong to a labor union.

Data are from the U.S. Bureau of the Census except where noted.

• Nebraska is a prevailing wage state. There is no dollar threshold amount for contract coverage under state prevailing wage law in Nebraska.