Yes, study says, there’s stress

In its overall economic condition, Nevada resembles the nation: Some bright spots with lower unemployment and few foreclosures alongside communities sliding deeper into an unremitting recession.

That's according to the latest data from the Associated Press Stress Index, a monthly analysis of economic distress in more than 3,100 counties nationwide. The newest numbers reveal worsening economic indicators in Clark County, but the jurisdiction that houses Las Vegas wasn't the state's worst -- or even second-worst -- performer in August.

Computed on a scale of 1 to 100, Clark County's "stress score" of 23.19 was well above the 11-point minimum that qualifies a community as economically troubled. What's more, that score was up 0.28 points from July, even as the average county stress score fell slightly nationwide, from 10.5 in July to 10.3 in August. Factoring into the county's performance were joblessness of 13.4 percent, a foreclosure rate of 8.7 percent and a bankruptcy rate of 2.9 percent.

But it was Lyon County up north that ranked as Nevada's hardest-hit area, as well as one of the five most-stressed counties in America. Lyon County's August stress score was 24, thanks in part to unemployment of 15.8 percent. Its foreclosure rate is roughly the same as Clark County's, though its bankruptcy rate is lower, at 1.6 percent.

Nye County, home to Pahrump, had the second-highest stress score in Nevada, with 23.3 points. That was up nearly 1 point from July. At 15.8 percent, Nye's jobless rate is considerably higher than Clark County's.

The stress statistics match the findings of Nevada economists.

Bill Anderson, chief economist of the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, said his agency's research pegs Nevada's bedroom counties -- suburban areas that drew people who worked in big cities -- as the state's economic laggards. So it makes sense that Lyon County, next to Reno, and Nye County, adjacent to Las Vegas, would post the highest stress scores. As bedroom communities, the two counties relied substantially on housing expansion, and today, they have Nevada's highest jobless rates.

Keith Schwer, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said steeper-than-average downturns in the state's bedroom counties suggest that those communities attracted residents likelier to suffer in a downturn.

"Sometimes, the people who live in these outlying communities are people who may not have had as many economic resources, so they bought a lower-priced home in a bedroom community," Schwer said. "What this is really telling us that they were more vulnerable."

Lander County fared best in Nevada on the Stress Index, with a score of 7.95. That was an improvement of 0.4 points from July. Boosting Lander's performance were an unemployment rate of 6.7 percent and barely perceptible rates of foreclosure (0.8 percent) and bankruptcy (0.5 percent). Credit Lander's vitality partly to mining; the county has dozens of mines where operators dig for materials ranging from gold to turquoise.

In addition to Lyon County, others on the nation's most-stressed list include Imperial County, Calif. (31.83); Yuma County, Ariz. (27.58); Merced County, Calif. (24.28); and Lauderdale, Tenn. (23.56). Imperial and Yuma are agricultural areas with high seasonal unemployment.

In all, nine of Nevada's counties surpassed the 11-point stress mark in August.

That leaves eight counties, most of them rural, with some semblance of economic health.

But those smaller counties weren't enough to propel Nevada toward overall growth in August.

As in previous months, Nevada (21.32) topped the list of the most economically stressed states. Michigan (17.59) and California (16.31) followed. North Dakota (4.67), South Dakota (5.3) and Nebraska (5.79) were at the bottom.

Clark County claims 71 percent of Nevada's population, while Washoe County houses another 16 percent of the Silver State's residents.

"As Clark and Washoe counties go, so goes the economic stress of the entire state," Schwer said.

Nationwide, signs of a slow and fitful recovery emerged in August in some communities across the country where unemployment dropped and foreclosures stabilized. Fewer counties qualified as economically distressed.

The latest results of the AP's Economic Stress Index showed the pain easing in some of the nation's hardest hit areas, such as Elkhart, Ind., and pockets of the Carolinas.

About 39 percent of counties had a score of 11 or higher in August, compared with 41 percent in June and July. That's still up substantially from a year ago, when only 6.6 percent of counties had scores above 11.

The states that showed the most improvement in their stress scores were Colorado, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. All four saw their jobless rates fall.

The states with the biggest year-to-year increases in economic stress in August were Nevada, Oregon and Michigan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.