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.

It looks like the slump in new home construction is still putting pressure on the state’s employment outlook, but the picture may turn a bit brighter in the coming months. With the opening of the Palazzo, the sister property of the Venetian Resort, expected to bring about 4,000 jobs to the strip, combined with the hiring related to the holiday retail season, experts predict improvement in employment measures. You can read the entire press release from the Nevada Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation after the break.

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The new numbers from the Nevada Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation are in, and the data shows that the state’s unemployment rate crept above the “full employment” level of 5 percent to 5.1 percent in September. That is up a full percentage point from September of 2006 when the rate was 4.1 percent. The rate also remains above the national average of 4.7 percent.

Bill Anderson, chief economist for the Department, Training & Rehabilitation, said that the jump in unemployment is due in large part to the continued workforce migration to Nevada. “The labor force grew by more than 17,000 in September, and again the state’s slowing
economy could not absorb all of the new workers,” Anderson said in a press release issued today.

The unemployment rate in Clark County actually surpassed the state’s average, rising to 5.2 percent in September. The housing slump and loss of related jobs was a major factor in the rise of the unemployment rate.

Nevada’s unemployment rate rose for
the fifth consecutive month, hitting 5-percent in August as a housing
slump continued and growth in the state’s labor pool outpaced job gains.

The
state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported
Friday that the seasonally adjusted rate, up from 4.9 percent in July,
was the highest since November 2003, and exceeded the national rate of
4.6 percent in August.

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