Initial jobless claims in Nevada drop 5 percent

CARSON CITY — Initial claims for unemployment in Nevada fell 5 percent in July from the same month last year, marking the eighth straight month that the claims dropped year-over-year.

The Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reports Thursday that nearly 17,800 initial claims for jobless benefits were filed in July.

Initial claims have fallen sharply from their peak in December 2008, when more than 36,000 were filed. But they’re still higher than they were before the recession, when less than 13,000 claims typically were filed each month.

Officials say the number of unemployment benefit recipients who exhaust their regular benefits is also down, from 53 percent in July 2012 to 47 percent this July.

State economist Bill Anderson says those numbers indicate it’s getting easier for the unemployed to return to work.