Nevada jobless rates hold steady

Nevada’s unemployment rate was steady in September, finishing the month the same as it did in August, at 4.9 percent seasonally adjusted and 5 percent without that adjustment.

Gov. Brian Sandoval said in a statement released Tuesday the rates are down compared to the same month of 2016, indicating continued economic improvement.

Reno/Sparks had the best rate among the state’s metropolitan reporting areas with just 4 percent of the 237,900 people in the labor force seeking employment.

That translates to less than 10,000 workers. Unlike the other major reporting areas, Reno/Sparks improved a tenth of a percent from August as expanding industry at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center and construction continued to boom.

Las Vegas was highest at 5.2 percent with 56,000 jobless in a pool of 1,073,600.

While that’s the same as in August, it’s four tenths lower than in September 2016.

Carson City was in the middle with an overall rate of 4.8 percent or some 1,200 out of work in a labor force of 24,800. Carson’s rate actually ticked up a tenth from August for it’s a full eight tenths better than a year ago.

In Churchill County, the rate dropped a tenth compared to August, finishing September at just 4.2 percent.

That translates to just 440 individuals looking for work in a labor force of 10,365. Churchill’s rate was 5.1 percent in September 2016, just shy of a full percent different.

Douglas County remained at 4.5 percent unemployment in September. Just more than 1,000 are seeking work there in a labor force of 22,382. A year ago, 4.9 percent of Douglas workers were jobless.

Lyon County continues to have one of the state’s highest jobless rates at 5.7 percent.

But that’s a tenth better than in August and a full percent lower than it was a year ago.

Statewide, September saw the lowest number of new claims for unemployment benefits since 1998. Just 9,068 people filed for benefits during the month.

According to economist Bill Anderson, Nevada has added 32,300 jobs over the past 12 months.

In Carson City, which is heavily dependent on public sector jobs, total employment was unchanged from September 2016.

The counties with the lowest unemployment rates are the rural mining centers of Elko, Esmeralda and Eureka — all below 4 percent. Eureka was lowest at just 2.9 percent.

Statewide, there were 71,700 looking for work as of September in a total labor force of 1,451,400.