Nevada jobless rate under 7 percent for first time since ’08
Nevada‘s unemployment rate hit a seven-year low in June as nine of the state‘s 10 biggest job sectors grew.
Joblessness fell to 6.9 percent in the month, down from 7 percent in May and 7.8 percent in June 2014, the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation said Wednesday. It‘s the first time since July 2008 that the statewide rate has dipped below 7 percent.
June brought the 54th straight month of year-to-year job gains across Nevada, with every major sector except mining adding positions.
The largest sector, leisure and hospitality, added 17,200 jobs, or 5.1 percent, to payrolls. Construction employment soared by 7,000 jobs, or 11.1 percent.
In all, Nevada‘s employers created 42,400 jobs year over year.
Through the end of 2014, Nevada ranked No. 2 in the nation for job formation, with a growth rate of 4 percent. Only North Dakota, at 4.6 percent, placed higher.
Before the recession began, Nevada led the nation in job growth, averaging 6.4 percent in 2005.
The number of Nevadans working in June was also at its highest level since August 2008, reaching 1.26 million.
But the number of people entering the labor market to seek work also jumped by more than 20,000 year over year, which kept jobless levels from falling more noticeably.
"The increase in the labor force is partly due to increased confidence in the labor market as job prospects have improved," said Bill Anderson, the employment department‘s chief economist. "Employment gains in both May and June have been strong enough to offset the expanding labor force to put renewed downward pressure on the jobless rate."
The employment department reported on June 23 that joblessness in Las Vegas dropped to 6.6 percent in May. But local rates are not seasonally adjusted and can swing more widely than state levels. The employment department will release local jobs numbers sometime next week.
Unemployment nationwide was 5.3 percent in June. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics hadn‘t released new rankings at press time, but Nevada ranked No. 2 in the nation for joblessness in May.
Contact Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com. Find @J_Robison1 on Twitter.
