Nevada job gains continue but slowly

Carson City has added 800 jobs since June, cutting its jobless rate to 8 percent.

The Reno/Sparks metropolitan area was in similar shape with 1,500 more jobs and a jobless rate of 8.1 percent since June.

But since Las Vegas still has an unemployment rate double that in western Nevada, the statewide rate remains 14.2 percent.

A spokesman for the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation said Wednesday that employment is continuing to recover across the state but, at a slower pace than it did in June.

Chief Economist Dave Schmidt said Nevada added jobs for the third straight month in July, but at a slower rate than the previous months. In June, for example, the rate was 8.7 percent in Reno/Sparks and 8.8 percent in Carson City.

In Douglas County, the rate was 7.9 percent in July, down from 9.1 percent in June. For Lyon County June’s 8.5 percent dipped slightly to 8.2 percent in July while the rate in the Fallon area fell just a tenth to 5.6 percent.

“July’s data reflects a period of slower growth following the significant reopening that took place in May and June,” he said.

Las Vegas too is seeing more jobs. Even though that reporting area added 12,000 jobs since June, it only dropped the unemployment rate from 17.8 percent to 16.4 percent. The core reason is that area’s heavy dependence on tourism and the hospitality industry.

The area with Nevada’s lowest unemployment rate is Esmeralda County at just 3.8 percent — about what the entire state was before the pandemic struck.