Las Vegas jobless rate higher than US as business confidence plunges

Las Vegas’ jobless rate has improved over the past several months but remains one of the highest in the nation among big metro areas, new data shows.

The Las Vegas area’s unemployment rate was 5.2 percent last month, compared with 3.9 percent nationally, according to figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The jobless rate in America’s casino capital is down from 6.4 percent last summer. But among the 50-plus metro areas with at least 1 million people, Las Vegas’ unemployment rate was second highest in the country last month, lower than only Fresno, California, at 8.3 percent, federal data shows.

Moreover, Southern Nevada’s jobless rate is still higher than it was before the coronavirus outbreak shut off much of the economy overnight more than five years ago, turning the Las Vegas Strip into a ghost town of closed resorts and empty sidewalks for a while.

In February 2020, the month before casinos and other businesses in Nevada were forced to close to help contain the public health crisis, Las Vegas’ unemployment rate was 4.3 percent.

Las Vegas’ casino-heavy economy is fueled by tourism. But annual visitor totals still haven’t returned to what was seen in the years leading up to the pandemic, and visitation this year has tumbled from 2024 levels.

Around 9.7 million people visited Las Vegas this year through March, down 7 percent from the same three-month stretch last year, according to data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Nationally, the United States has been on an economic roller coaster this year as President Donald Trump threatens tariffs on countries across the globe, raising the prospect of higher prices for consumers and businesses and increasing fears of a recession.

At a Federal Reserve meeting this month, officials “agreed that the risks of higher inflation and higher unemployment had risen,” minutes released Wednesday show.

In Southern Nevada, business confidence “plunged” this quarter to its lowest level in 16 years, according to UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research.

All told, local business leaders’ view of U.S. economic conditions “nosedived,” and their view of conditions in Nevada “also sank,” the center reported.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342.