June unemployement rate lowest in six years

Nevada’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent in June, its lowest point in nearly six years.

In this case, that adjustment reflects the number of teens and college students getting out of school for the summer. The raw rate, which matches the rates for all local reporting areas in Nevada, actually ticked up a tenth to 7.8 percent.

The Reno-Sparks and Carson City reporting areas each reported a decrease of a tenth of a percent to 7.2 and 7.9 percent respectively. The Las Vegas rate was steady at 7.9 percent.

According to a spokesman from the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, employment growth has been positive for 42 months and, through the first half of this year, the state has adde more than 40,000 more jobs than for the same period last year. For June, the construction industry had the highest growth rate at 10.5 percent, adding 5,900 jobs compared to June 2013.

In Carson City, there were about 3,400 people looking for work in a labor force of 27,900. While most other sectors were relatively steady, the number of state workers contracted over the past year by about 300 to 6,800.That was offset by an increase of more than 200 jobs in the leisure and hospitality category and another 100 in business services.

The Reno-Sparks reporting area added some 7,200 jobs over the year, 600 of them between May and June. There were incremental gains in most services categories from retail stores to leisure and hospitality, education and accommodations and food services.

Churchill County’s unemployment rate fell two-tenths to 8.4 percent in June. There are now just 810 people looking for a job in a market of 12,650. But Churchill’s rate is actually up compared to February and March when it was 7.6 and 7.4 percent respectively.

Douglas County reported a rate of 8.1 percent, about where it was in April and May. Of the 21,300 in that county’s labor pool, 1,720 are jobless.

After several years, Lyon County finally improved enough in June so it isn’t the reporting area with Nevada’s highest unemployment rate. From May to June, the county fell two tenths to 10.3 percent jobless while Mineral County reported an increase from 10.1 to 10.6 percent.

Lyon has 2,260 looking for work in a pool of 21,940.

Lyon and Mineral are the only remaining Nevada counties still in double digits for unemployment.