As of the second quarter of 2016, Nevada has the sixth fastest growing private sector in the nation with a growth rate of 3.2 percent. Only Utah, Idaho, Florida, Oregon and Georgia realized stronger job growth than the Silver State during the first half of the year, said Bill Anderson, chief economist for Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.
“News that the Silver State is sixth in job growth is significant considering how far we’ve come since the height of the recession when it had the lowest growth rate in the nation at -10.1 percent in 2009,” Anderson said in a press release. “In the years preceding the economic downturn, Nevada led the country in private sector employment growth. For instance, in 2005, Nevada had the highest employment growth rate at 6.4 percent. We have gradually regained lost ground over the past five years.”
In 2011, the private sector grew at a rate of 1.2 percent, 37th in the nation. In 2012, it grew at a rate of 1.9 percent and ranked 27th in the nation. Steady improvement continued with the state ranking 13th in 2013, growing at a rate of 2.7 percent. Growth jumped to second place in 2014 at 4 percent and third place in 2015 at 3.8 percent.
Information obtained through the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) Program provides a nearly complete jobs count based upon quarterly wage records submitted by employers whose employees are covered under the Unemployment Insurance System. Because generating this information is a time-consuming process, it is only available with a four to five month lag, Anderson said. These data represent a complete count of jobs based upon information submitted by covered employers. As a result, historical information is subject to minimal, if any, revisions.
