The jobless rate in the greater Reno-Sparks area fell to 4 percent in September as the region’s robust job growth continued to swell with a growing economy.
The 4 percent rate marks a drop of six-tenths of a point from September 2016, according to the monthly report released last week by the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.
And it marks the region’s ongoing recovery from the Great Recession, when the jobless rate peaked at nearly 14 percent six years ago.
In Carson City, the September unemployment rate drop was even steeper – eight-tenths of a point over the year to 4.8 percent.
From September 2016 to September 2017, the Reno-Sparks region added 1,400 more construction jobs with another 600 jobs created in the manufacturing sector, the report showed.
In addition, the retail sector added an estimated 500 jobs over the year while in the leisure/hospitality sector, restaurants and bars was the only category adding jobs while jobs dwindled in casino hotel and other accommodation-related businesses.
The regional figures largely mirror the statewide trends, which show Nevada’s overall unemployment rate in September at 4.9 percent.
“Employers continue to add jobs,” Bill Anderson, chief economist at DETR, said in a statement accompanying the report. “Despite a slight uptick in new jobs statewide, Nevada’s largest population centers saw mixed job growth in September.”
Anderson said jobless rates have declined on a year-over-year basis in all 17 counties for 13 consecutive months, and as of September, all counties’ rates were at or below 6.5 percent.
Year over year, job growth in the Reno-Sparks area was 2.5 percent as of September, and 2.3 percent in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. In Carson City, job growth was unchanged.
