Nevada adds 1,300 jobs in January, unemployment remains at 4.9 percent
Submitted by editor on Tue, 03/06/2018 - 10:28am
Employment rose to 1,361,100, reflecting an increase of 1,300 jobs over the month of January, while unemployment in the state remains unchanged since December, at 4.9 percent, according to figures released Tuesday by the state's Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.
“I am encouraged to see we started the year by adding more jobs to the economy. Nevada is working toward the sixth continuous year with growth rates above the nation as a whole, while seeing an unchanged unemployment rate,” said Gov. Brian Sandoval. “These are certainly positive indicators for our state as we begin 2018.”
This is the 66th straight month with annual employment growth in Nevada higher than the U.S. as a whole, reflecting continued strength in the job market in the state.
Over the year, employment increased by just under 3 percent through January, said David Schmidt, Chief Economist for Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.
“Combined with the unchanged unemployment rate in January, these latest numbers reflect a stable labor market in Nevada as job seekers continue to enter the market at a rate similar to the number of jobs that are being created,” Schmidt added.
Highlights
— At 4.9 percent, Nevada’s unemployment rate remained unchanged since August of last year.
— The Silver State added 1,300 jobs over the month in January, seasonally adjusted, to reach 1.36 million jobs. Over the year, employment grew by 37,700 or 2.8 percent.
— At the height of the recession, adding discouraged workers to the “official” unemployment rate resulted in an increase of 1.1 percentage points. Currently, including discouraged workers only increases the headline rate by 0.4 percentage points.
— The number of employers in Nevada’s Unemployment Insurance (UI) system has reached nearly 69,000, the highest fourth-quarter reading on record.
— Nevada’s UI trust fund ended 2017 with a balance of $1.1 billion, an all-time high.
