January unemployment rate at 5.5 percent
Nevada’s employment rate stood 0.6 percent higher than the national average and a full point higher than January of 2007. The numbers, which were released in the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation’s monthly employment report, showed that areas outside of Las Vegas were particularly hard hit. The unemployment rate in the Reno-Sparks area shot up to 6.6 percent, and to 7.5 percent in Carson City.
As expected, the construction sector took another beating, losing 4,600 jobs, falling behind retail, which lost 4,700 jobs after the holiday shopping season. Government jobs were hardest hit, with 5,700 fewer state workers in January.