Saturday, July 19, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

NEVADA ECONOMY: Jobless rate posts decrease

At 5.3 percent, state rate is 1.1 percentage points lower than U.S.

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Nevada's unemployment rate declined one-tenth of a percentage point in June to 5.3 percent, according to a Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation report released Friday.

In the Las Vegas metropolitan area, unemployment in June decreased four-tenths of a percent from a year ago to 5.6 percent. The latest number is six-tenths of a percent higher than a month ago, but Joe Reel, the Nevada labor economist, attributes that to the influx of students entering the work force for the summer.

He's upbeat about the seasonally adjusted figures and believes the economy may be recovering from the effect of the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks and a temporary slump because of worries over the Iraq war.

"The excitement is sort of coming back," Reel said.

Las Vegas' home building sector was a star in June, as reflected by the 4 percent increase in the construction industry labor force, he said. Education and health care also improved, rising 4.3 percent. The number of professional and business service jobs climbed 2.3 percent over last year. The job force for financial services increased by 2.1 percent.

Information, specifically telecommunications, broadcasting, newspapers and publishing, was off 6.1 percent from a year ago.

"The population-driven areas are really what's keeping things ahead," Reel said. Home building and education are among those areas, he said although low interest rates on mortgages have also given velocity to growth in home building.

The leisure and hospitality industries are "kind of on hold," with a labor force increase of 0.8 percent for June versus the same month last year. "Usually, they're what's driving our market," Reel said.

Casino hotels, one segment of the category, increased their work force by 0.4 percent. Gaming industry employment was unchanged.

"The future of gaming and tourism in Las Vegas looks much brighter than it does in Reno," stated the June economic report from Reel's office.

"By the end of the summer, The Venetian, The Orleans and the Westin Casuarina will have opened nearly 2,500 new hotel rooms," the report explained. "Mandalay Bay will add another 1,000-plus rooms by year-end."

The job force for general merchandise and clothing, a subset of retail, increased 4.4 percent over a year ago.

The Las Vegas metro area includes Pahrump and part of Mohave County in Arizona.

The Reno metro area saw unemployment decline to 4.3 percent from 4.8 percent a year ago. Unemployment in Carson City rose one-tenth of a percent from a year ago to 6 percent.

In Elko and Eureka counties, unemployment decreased to 5.1 percent from 5.4 percent. Lyon County posted the highest jobless rate 7.1 percent, two-tenths of a percentage point higher than last year.

The national unemployment rate is 6.4 percent. California's jobless rate is 6.7 percent.