Nevada’s statewide unemployment rate was unchanged in April, steady at 5 percent.
That’s the seasonally adjusted number. The raw jobless rate was actually just 4.5 percent.
Seasonal adjustments account for normal and expected swings in employment such as hiring around holidays and workforce reductions as college students go back to class.
The rate was just 2.7 percent in the Reno reporting area and 3 percent in Carson City — both raw rate numbers.
Clark County remains highest at 5 percent but that is a significant improvement over the past few months as tourists again flock to Las Vegas, bringing the hospitality and leisure sector workers back to their jobs.
The lowest rates were reported by Nevada’s mining centers in the rural parts of the state, led by Eureka County with a jobless rate of just 1.9 percent and Esmeralda County at 2.1 percent.
Dave Schmidt, chief economist for the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, said the total labor force in the state is just over 1.5 million with 1.1 million of that total in the Las Vegas reporting area. Of that total, just 67,591 are looking for work, and 56,000 of them are in the south.
In Carson City, the work force totals 25,410 with 775 seeking employment.
Washoe County reports 252,179 workers but 6,893 jobless as of the end of April.
Douglas County reports a workforce of 21,441 and 673 without employment.
Churchill County’s 11,462-member workforce has just 113 seeking a job.
Lyon County has 23,608 workers and 877 jobless.
Altogether, 10 of Nevada’s 17 counties reported unemployment rates of less than 3 percent. Only Nye and Clark were over 4 percent through April.
In April, 8,866 initial claims were filed seeking unemployment benefits. While that is 811 more than the number filed in March, the continued benefit claims are down to just 13,600. That is the lowest number of continued claims for April since 1990.
