Nevada adds 48,400 jobs in last year; bill would hike minimum wage

CARSON CITY, Nev. — As of February, the state of Nevada has added 48,400 jobs compared to February 2018.

That is a growth rate of 3.5 percent compared to national employment that increased just 1.78 percent. There are now 1,524,100 in the state's labor force.

According to the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, the raw unemployment rate in Nevada is just 4.1 percent

Of the major reporting areas, Reno/Sparks is lowest at just 3.7 percent and Carson City highest at 4.7 percent with Las Vegas in the middle at 4.2 percent. Reno/Sparks is three-tenths lower than in January as is Carson City while Las Vegas is a half-percent improved compared with January.

Over the past 12 months, the manufacturing sector experienced the fastest growth rate, adding 7,600 jobs for a 15.4 percent increase. Construction is also booming, adding 7,400 jobs, an 8.8 percent growth rate.

Because of the boom in those two categories, the Reno/Sparks reporting area added jobs at a rate of 5.9 percent during the year. Reno/Sparks added 500 jobs in February and 14,200 over the year.

There are now 260,900 workers in Reno with just 9,500 seeking work.

Meanwhile, Carson City saw a decrease of 200 jobs in February. But the capital is up 800 jobs or 2.6 percent over the year.

The capital has a workforce of 26,300 and only 1,200 jobless.

There are 1,112,400 workers in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Just 46,700 are looking for work.

In Churchill County, just 448 workers are jobless in a labor force of 11,177. That translates to 4 percent, four-tenths lower than in January

Douglas County's jobless rate fell a half percent to 4.5 percent in February. There are 22,051 in the labor force there and 1,044 seeking work.

While still higher than most other counties, Lyon saw a significant improvement from January to February, reducing the list of the unemployed by more than 100 to 1,296 in a work force of 22,610. That's 5.7 percent — a decrease of six-tenths in just one month.