Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

STATE ECONOMY: Job market stays strong

Jobless rate better than that of nation

Ace Masonry workers build a foundation wall at a construction project within the Montecito Crossing retail center in March. Photo by Clint Karlsen. Click image for enlargement.

CARSON CITY -- Nevada's jobless rate remained unchanged in March at 4.4 percent, but the state continued to lead the nation in job growth over the past year.

Employers have created 44,700 new jobs in the past 12 months, an increase of 4.2 percent, the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported Monday.

Nevada's unemployment rate was 1.3 percentage points lower than the national rate and 2.1 percentage points lower than neighboring California.

"Nevada's economy continued its recent trends of solid job growth and moderate unemployment," Gov. Kenny Guinn said in a statement. "Construction activity remains strong in many parts of the state. Favorable economic conditions and an improving national employment picture should provide a boost to Nevada's tourism industry, which has not kept up with the growth in many of the state's other industries."

The state unemployment rate of 4.4 percent is adjusted for seasonal changes in employment.

The department's labor market analysts estimate that during March, the Las Vegas metropolitan statistical area, which includes Nye County and Mohave County in Arizona, had a nonseasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 4.4 percent, down two-tenths of a percentage point over the previous month and down nine-tenths of a percentage point over the previous year.

Washoe County's nonseasonally adjusted March jobless rate was estimated at 4.1 percent, down four-tenths of a percentage point over the previous month and six-tenths of a percentage point lower than a year ago.

In the Carson City labor market area, which includes Douglas, Lyon and Storey counties, unemployment was reported at 5.6 percent, down seven-tenths of a percentage point over the previous month, and eight-tenths of a percentage point lower than March a year ago.

The Elko labor market area, which includes Eureka County, reported unemployment at 4.5 percent, down nine-tenths of a percentage point over the previous month and 2.0 percentage points lower than a year ago.

First-quarter rural-county data revealed one county with an over-the-year increase in unemployment. Storey County posted a nine-tenths of a percentage point increase to 4.6 percent.

Eureka County posted the lowest rural quarterly unemployment rate at 3.5 percent, down 4.4 percentage points over a year ago. Lyon County reported the highest unemployment rate at 7.7 percent, one-tenth of a percentage point lower than the first quarter of 2003.

Birgit Baker, director of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, said: "The situation in the state's mining regions continues to improve. The recent sale of the Robinson mine near Ely should add about 300 jobs to the area's work force when the mine reopens later this year. The community has withstood difficult times since the mine closed five years ago."

Baker said that preliminary wage and salary employment estimates for March reflect job gains in the past year in all but one Nevada employment sector.

The information sector, which includes telecommunications, reported a loss of 300 jobs over the year.

Categories showing significant job growth in the past year include professional and business services, with an increase of 8,200 jobs; trade, transportation and utilities, up 6,800 jobs; and construction, with 10,900 new jobs.