Nevada job gains up

Nevada gained more jobs as a percentage of private sector employment than the nation during a recent quarter, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics summary released Tuesday.The Silver State also lost fewer jobs as a percentage of private sector employment, compared with the nation, according to the same BLS Business Employment Dynamics quarterly summary.The data covering 2012’s second quarter showed Nevada gained 63,846 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis over the three months ending June 30, or 6.5 percent of private employment. It showed Nevada lost 54,370 jobs, or 5.5 percent.“Gross job gains,” the BLS said in a release looking at comparable percentages for the United States, “represented 6.3 percent of private sector employment in second quarter 2012, while gross job losses represented 5.8 percent...” The raw figures nationally, of course, were much higher than Nevada’s: Gross job gains in the quarter totaled a bit more than 7 million, while gross job losses were more than 6.4 million. Nevada’s solid place in the latest BLS Business Employment Dynamics summary put it equal, on a percentage basis, with the state of New York regarding job gains. The two states exceeded about three-fifths of the jurisdictional rankings for job gains, above 21 others. Along with the 50 states, data included the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.Regarding job loss data, the summary showed Nevada’s 5.5 percent of the private work force not only was better than the national rate of 5.8 percent, but also came in better than most jurisdictions, with only a dozen jurisdictions registering lower percentage losses. Nevada’s percentage was the same as that of Kansas and Oklahoma.For Nevada’s recent history, the 6.5 percent of private work force job gains in the second quarter exceeded the percentage of job gains in the state in the previous four quarters recorded.The raw number of 63,846 also was highest of the five listed, which began with the second quarter of 2011.As for job losses, Nevada’s 5.5 percent for the second quarter of 2012 was tied with the previous quarter and was lower than those ending in June, September and December of 2011. The raw number of 54,370 job losses exceeded the first quarter of 2012, but was lower than the three quarters listed for 2011. The loss figure range was from a low of 53,065 in March 2012 to a high of 57,587 for the quarter ending in September 2011.