Unemployment up statewide

The Las Vegas jobless rate worsened by three-tenths of a percent, reaching 6.8 percent in July -- more than 1 percentage point higher than the national average, the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation disclosed Friday.

The unemployment rate was 6.5 percent in June this year and 5.1 percent in July last year.

The number of unemployed in the Las Vegas area grew by 27,000 from a year ago to 94,900.

Meanwhile, Nevada's statewide unemployment rate hit 6.6 percent, compared with 6.4 percent last month and 4.9 percent in July last year. The statewide number also is higher than the 5.7 percent national average, according to the employment department.

Reno area unemployment ran 6.5 percent, up from 6.4 percent in June. Carson City jobless rates were unchanged at 6.6 percent, and the Elko area's unemployment dipped to 4 percent from 4.1 percent in June.

The national and statewide numbers are seasonally adjusted, but the city jobless rates are not.

The department didn't distribute a statement on unemployment, and an economist referred a caller to chief economist William Anderson who didn't return a call for comment late Friday.

Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons, however, issued a statement calling the state's economic condition "difficult" and repeating his commitment not to raise taxes.

"It's important that state government do everything it can to encourage the creation of new jobs and attract new businesses to Nevada," Gibbons said. "This includes resisting pressures to increase taxes on business to meet the state's revenue shortfall, which would put even greater strains on already struggling companies and put more Nevadans out of work."

However, state statistics show that employment in the Las Vegas area grew by 3 percent to 932,800 in July from the same month last year.

Air transportation and warehousing, which employs 5,800 workers, added 26.1 percent more workers, the biggest gain of any sector. Employment services, which provide work for 14,700 individuals, lost 10.4 percent workers, the biggest drop. Construction jobs totaled 94,600, down 8.9 percent from July last year.

The hotel-casino and gaming sector, which counts 172,500 workers on its payrolls, registered a 2 percent decline from a year ago.

Contact reporter John G. Edwards at jedwards@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0420.