Nevada jobless rate down to 4 percent, lowest since April 2006

CARSON CITY, Nev. — Buoyed by the lowest unemployment rate Nevada has seen in 13 years, the number of jobs filled in the Silver State increased by 2,800 over the month of April and is up 49,600 over the year.

The state's unemployment rate in April declined over the month by 0.2 percentage points to 4 percent and is down half a percentage point when compared to last April, according to the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation's (DETR) April 2019 economic report.

“... Nevada has experienced year-over-year job gains for more than eight consecutive years and the unemployment rate, at 4 percent, is the lowest it's been since April of 2006,” Governor Steve Sisolak said. “The number of employers in the State also marked a new record high in the first quarter of 2019 at 73,300."

"Although these numbers are encouraging, we need to continue to do more to make sure that the benefits of this economy extend to all Nevadans.”

Nevada's employment growth rate has ranked first in the U.S. since last October, said David Schmidt, Chief Economist for DETR, and has been double the rate of national job gains for seven consecutive months now.

Below are several additional April Report highlights; you can go here to download the full report:

• Total employment rose by 3.6% over the year, double the current U.S. growth rate (1.8%).
• Professional and business services have added the most jobs over the year out of all sectors through April, up 15,200 jobs on an annualized basis.
• Opening establishments accounted for 14,640 new (gross) jobs (roughly 18 percent of the total gross job gain) in third quarter 2018, an increase of 1,970 jobs.
• The civilian labor force, employed population 16 years and over, is composed of 46.4 percent women and 53.6 percent men, according to the American Census Survey.
• Nevada's labor force grew at 2.8 percent over the year, outperforming the national labor growth rate of one percent.
• Initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits saw their second straight year-over-year uptick in April; rising by one percent.
• Year-to-date through April, 114,618 ads have been posted for jobs in Nevada, an increase of 40,782 (55.2 percent) from the same period last year.