There are now more than 1.35 million people employed in Nevada, the highest number ever. Employers have added more than 240,000 jobs since the depth of the recession in 2010.
While the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate ticked up a tenth of a percent in October, the unadjusted rate actually went down two tenths to 4.8 percent as unemployment levels continued to go down.
The jobless rate fell one tenth in the Las Vegas and Reno/Sparks reporting areas to 5.1 and 3.9 percent respectively. The rate held steady at 4.8 percent in Carson City.
That translates to 1,077,500 workers in the Las Vegas reporting area with 54,600 looking and 228,800 employed in Reno/Sparks with 9,400 seeking work.
In Carson City, 23,800 are employed and 1,200 jobless. The capital’s jobless rate has been between 4.6 and 4.8 percent since May of this year, moving up or down a tenth each month.
Statewide, total employment reached 1.39 million in October with just 70,700 seeking a job.
According to the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, Nevada’s job growth has exceeded the national average for the past 63 months. Statistically the strongest improvement in jobs has been in the construction industry — the category that was hardest hit by the recession. That industry lost nearly 100,000 jobs to recession reductions but has gained pretty much all of that back, growing by 12 percent in just this year.
Churchill County has been hovering just over the 4 percent unemployment mark for most of this year and October didn’t change that pattern. The county ticked up one tenth from September to October, finishing at 4.3 percent with just 447 of 10,324 in the labor pool out of work.
Douglas County also saw a one tenth increase to 4.6 percent in October. There, 1,006 are seeking employment in a pool of 22,067.
Lyon County remains a bit higher at 5.6 percent, but that’s down one tenth from September. 1,211 are listed as looking for work in Lyon in a labor force of 21,514.