Unemployment rate steady in April

Nevada's unemployment rate didn't get any better in April, but the 5.5 percent of Nevadans without jobs is still a half percent better than the nation as a whole and more than a percent better than neighboring California.

"Businesses and consumers remain cautious, so travel, hiring and spending remain below expectations," Gov. Kenny Guinn said.

He said reviewing the unemployment numbers in conjunction with tax and gaming numbers "suggests that the state's revenues will continue to struggle to meet forecasts."

Statewide, the unemployment rate was the same as in March and only one-tenth of a percent better than a year ago with some 60,700 unemployed out of 1.1 million workers.

The rate for the Las Vegas area was 5.4 percent -- down one-tenth from March and three-tenths better than April 2002. There were a total of 47,600 jobless in the state's largest reporting area out of 876,600 in the labor force. But the numbers show most of the difference was caused by some 2,000 leaving the Las Vegas work force in the past month.

The Carson City area reported 6.6 percent unemployed out of 62,050 workers -- the same percentage as in March. But Carson City has a higher unemployment rate than a year ago when the figure was 6.3 percent. In the past year, the area's labor force has grown by 380 workers while the number without jobs has increased 230. The Carson City reporting area includes Douglas, Lyon and Storey counties.

Elko numbers were similar to those in Carson City with 6.4 percent of 20,100 in the labor force out of work. That is three-tenths better than in March.

The Reno area had the best numbers with an unemployment rate of 4.7 percent -- two-tenths lower than in March. The labor force there grew by about 600 in the past month. Only 9,200 were listed as unemployed in the Reno reporting area.