Las Vegas Valley jobless rate ticks down to 7.1 percent

The Las Vegas Valley’s unemployment rate ticked down in April as the city’s employers added more jobs than expected.

The market’s jobless rate fell from 7.2 percent in March to 7.1 percent in April, the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported Tuesday.

The valley’s jobs base surged by 5,300 more positions than forecasted based on historical trends, for a gain of 9,900 new jobs month to month. Levels were up by 27,900 positions in the month, for 3.2 percent job growth.

Job formation happened virtually across the board, with the best performances coming from construction, leisure and hospitality, professional and business services and retail.

The unemployment rate didn’t improve more markedly because even as job counts expanded, so did the number of people looking for work. The valley saw its work force grow by 8,500 from March to April, to 1.04 million.

“The metropolitan areas are showing similar improvement to what the Silver State is experiencing as a whole,” said Bill Anderson, chief economist of the employment department. “With more people joining the labor force, the unemployment rate is not experiencing the decline we would hope for. However, this suggests more people are confident in the labor market and are now looking for work.”

The employment department said last week that Nevada’s jobless rate was also 7.1 percent in April.

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics hadn’t updated its website to include other states’ April numbers at press time, but in March, Nevada ranked No. 1 in the nation for joblessness.

The national rate was 5.4 percent.

Contact Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com. Find @J_Robison1 on Twitter.