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.

Nevada’s Unemployment Rate Rises to 5.2 Percent in October
(Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation Press Release)

Nevada’s unemployment rate continued to creep up in October hitting 5.2 percent, while
the national unemployment rate was 4.7 percent. Nevada’s job growth fell to just 0.9
percent over the year, extending a string of five-year lows, said William Anderson, chief
economist for the Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation (DETR).

“The housing slump continues to negatively impact Nevada’s unemployment,” said
Anderson. “With winter approaching it is unlikely that housing market conditions-and,
therefore, construction-related employment-will improve any time soon. However, the
gaming industry should get a boost from the opening of the Palazzo in Las Vegas in
December.”

The Palazzo, the sister property of the Venetian Resort, is expected to employ about
4,000 workers, he said. The Palazzo will provide the biggest increase in gaming
employment since Wynn Las Vegas opened in April 2005. The retail sector should get a
boost in November, not only from the start of holiday season hiring, but also from the
opening of a Cabela’s sporting goods store in Reno and the Town Square mixed-use
project south of the Las Vegas Strip.

Analysis of employment changes over the past six months provides a clearer picture of
current job market conditions than any of the recent monthly reports, which were marked
by the usual summer labor market volatility, Anderson said.

From April to October, Nevada added only 300 net jobs, he said. In the previous five
years, job growth averaged more than 33,000 over the same six-month period, Anderson
said. The biggest job gains this year were in the education and health care, leisure and
hospitality, and retail trade industries. Each of those industries added between 1,400 and
1,800 jobs since April. However, those gains were offset by job losses in other industries.
Construction and employment services (temporary help) lost 2,800 and 3,900 jobs,
respectively, and the financial sector shed 600 jobs.

“On the national front, the credit market crisis remains the dominant story as financial
firms continue to write off billions of dollars in bad mortgage loans,” Anderson said.
“The concern remains that a tightening of credit, both to consumers and businesses, will
help push the economy into recession. The Federal Reserve has already lowered interest
rates twice in an attempt to stabilize the credit market and stimulate the economy.”

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.

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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