Nevada’s number of initial jobless claims down again in July

Initial claims for unemployment in Nevada fell 5 percent in July from the same month last year, marking the eighth consecutive month in which the claims dropped year-over-year.

The Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported Thursday that nearly 17,800 initial claims for jobless benefits were filed in July.

Initial claims have fallen sharply from their peak in December 2008, when more than 36,000 were filed. But they’re still at a higher level than before the recession, when fewer than 13,000 claims typically were filed each month.

Officials say the number of unemployment-benefit recipients who exhaust their regular benefits is also down, from 53 percent in July 2012 to 47 percent this July.

Those numbers indicate it’s getting easier for the unemployed to return to work, state economist Bill Anderson said.