Nevada jobless rate drops to 6.8 percent in December

LAS VEGAS — State officials say Nevada’s unemployment rate dropped in December to a level unseen since June 2008.

Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation said Tuesday the state’s jobless rate dropped to a seasonally adjusted 6.8 percent in December compared to 9 percent a year ago.

The agency’s chief economist Bill Anderson says the unadjusted unemployment rates in all of the state’s 17 counties is now below 10 percent and the rate fell in each of the state’s statistical regions.

Jobless rates in Southern Nevada and Reno region each dropped 2 percentage points compared to a year ago to 6.9 percent and 6.2 percent respectively. The Carson City area’s unemployment dropped 2.2 percentage points in December to 7 percent.