Las Vegas Vital Stats

Nevada Unemployment Rate Rises to 6.4%

Las Vegas Now Staff — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:20:29 +0000

The state’s unemployment rate continued to pull away from the national rate in June, which remained at 5.5 percent, according to a report released today by the Nevada Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation.

The unemployment rate in Las Vegas Valley was a bit higher than the state’s average, standing at 6.5%. The area shed 6,200 jobs in June and for the first time since 2002, year-over-year growth declined for four consecutive months.

Two factors were cited as reasons for the increase in the rate. They included recent disappointing gaming revenue, and more people re-entering the workforce in order to cope with rising prices of things like fuel and food.

The only sliver lining in today’s report - make that gold lining - was that in mining areas, such as Elko and White Pine counties, the unemployment rate remained below 5 percent thanks to the fact that gold prices remain near their historic highs.

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Las Vegas Ranks at Bottom of ‘Best Drivers’ Report

Las Vegas Now Staff — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:39:31 +0000

Las Vegas drivers are once again near the bottom of a list when it comes to America’s best drivers. According to the Allstate Best Drivers Report, Las Vegas came in at 165 out of 200 cities. It found that Las Vegas drivers are likely to experience a car accident every 7.9 years, compared to the national average of every 10 years. Sioux Falls, Idaho drivers were ranked the safest. Do you agree with the report?

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Las Vegas Ranked Among Top 40 Cities to Live

Las Vegas Now Staff — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:49:52 +0000

A new survey says that Las Vegas is among the top 40 best cities in which to live. Best Life Magazine ranks Las Vegas as the number 32, behind number 31 — Reno. Researchers used a variety of criteria for the study of 257 cities, including information from the FBI and the U.S. Census Bureau. Honolulu ranks as the top city to live in. Clarksville, Tennessee ranks at the bottom of the list.

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Las Vegas Ranks Poorly in Teen Driving

Las Vegas Now Staff — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:37:31 +0000

Any parent of a teen driver worries about them on the roads, but a new study shows that teens driving on Las Vegas roads face even more dangers. The study was done over a seven year period by Allstate Insurance Company, and during that time more than 300 teens were killed on our roads.

The study ranks Las Vegas as 15th out of the 50 most dangerous places for teen drivers. Nationwide, traffic crashes are the number one killer of teens from the ages of 15 to 20. AAA attributes the growing number of deaths in Las Vegas to the growing population, and they say parent involvement is a big part of prevention.

“Teens don’t have to be in big SUV’s that are hard to maneuver. These are the most inexperienced drivers on the road, so the simpler the better when it comes to educating teens. Picking the right car is one of the right answers,” said Michael Geeser with AAA.

Once teens get their license, many want their own car or to take the family car. AAA recommends that parents make sure their teen is driving a vehicle they can handle and the family SUV may be too much car for their experience level.

AAA also recommends that parents draw up a paper outlining what rules they expect new drivers to abide by, so teens know exactly what limits are placed on them as new drivers.

The study called San Francisco the safest city for teens while the Tampa area in Florida was deemed the worst place for teen drivers.

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Trend Continues: Home Sales Up, Prices Fall

Las Vegas Now Staff — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:25:59 +0000

The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported that the year’s trend of increasing home sales combined with falling prices continued in April. Again, to no one’s surprise, the driver of these trends is the fact that more than half of all homes sold last month were either bank-owned or short sales. The median price of a single family home fell 3 percent from March to April, and is down a whopping 22.7 percent from April of 2007.

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Clark County Gets an ‘F’ For Ozone

Las Vegas Now Staff — Thu, 01 May 2008 17:07:29 +0000

The American Lung Association has issued its State of the Air Report which ranks cities on three types of pollution.

Citites are graded on short-term particle pollution, year-round particle pollution and ozone pollution. Although, no Nevada city made the top 10 worst list in any category, Clark County did get an F when it comes to high ozone days. Los Angeles and Pittsburgh were among the worst.

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Las Vegas Ranks High for Stolen Cars

Las Vegas Now Staff — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:29:28 +0000

Las Vegas is still one of the most likely places to have your car stolen. Las Vegas ranks number two in the nation for auto theft per capita.

That is down slightly from the past two years when Las Vegas was in the top spot. That designation now goes to Modesto, California. The report is compiled by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

Top 10 metro areas by per capita auto theft rate for 2007

1. Modesto, Calif.

2. Las Vegas/Paradise, Nev.

3. San Diego/Carlsbad/San Marcos, Calif.

4. Stockton, Calif.

5. San Francisco/Oakland/Fremont, Calif.

6. Laredo, Texas

7. Albuquerque, N.M.

8. Phoenix/Mesa/Scottsdale, Ariz.

9. Yakima, Wash.

10. Tucson, Ariz.

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More ride monorail than in ‘07

Las Vegas Now Staff — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 23:30:56 +0000

Ridership on the Las Vegas Monorail is off to a better start this year, with first quarter seeing an increase 19 percent over the first three months of 2007. The numbers are also better than 2006, but still below the 2.3 million rider level in the first quarter of 2005.

Total revenue for the first quarter was $7,346,743.

Read the complete press release here | Search the LasVegasNOW.com archives for Monorail articles

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Home sales up 35-percent; prices fall

Las Vegas Now Staff — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:47:08 +0000

Lead by short sales and foreclosures, home sales rose 35 percent last month, extending the upward swing to three months according to the March real estate report released today by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. On a yearly basis, sales are off nearly 8 percent from March of 2007. The median price of homes continued to decline, and now stands at $243,000, down 1.4 percent from February and down 20.3 percent from March of 2007.

(more…)

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Nevada Gets Poor Marks in Child Well-Being

Las Vegas Now Staff — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:13:43 +0000

Nevada scores poorly when it comes to the well being of its children, especially in the areas of uninsured children and children incarcerated.

Those findings are part of a new report by Every Child Matters, which is a non-profit group that bases its rankings on 10 standards.

The group uses child well-being standards to ranks the states from best to worst. Nevada ranked 43rd in the nation our of all 50 states. It’s worst rankings included; uninsured children, child welfare expenses, child vulnerability and juvenile incarceration. (more…)

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