Carson City sees fastest growing employment sector in March, says state employment office
March 2018 employment growth remains strong in the Silver State with ongoing increases in Carson City, Reno and Sparks and Las Vegas areas, according to figures released Tuesday by the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.
Employment data in March continue to show an improving labor market across the state, according to the March labor report. The fastest employment growth among the state’s metropolitan statistical areas was in Carson City, which grew at a rate of 4.4 percent over the year, while Las Vegas added the most jobs overall with 24,300 more jobs than in March 2017, an increase of 2.5 percent.
While the Carson City and Reno metropolitan statistical areas have the fastest growth in the state of late, Las Vegas is the only MSA in the state that has surpassed its prerecession employment levels, with seasonally adjusted employment reaching a new high of 998,200 jobs in March.
Year-over-year employment also continues to increase in the state as a whole, while statewide unemployment rates continue to fall.
Unemployment rates across the state continue to fall with 11 of 17 counties experiencing a decline over the month and 6 counties experiencing a decline of a half a percentage point or more, said David Schmidt, Chief Economist, for Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.
Additional March 2018 Economic Report Highlights:
Job Growth in March:
· Year-over-year seasonally-adjusted employment increased statewide and in all MSAs this month.
· Las Vegas continues to set new employment highs with seasonally-adjusted jobs this month reaching 998,200 jobs.
· Las Vegas added 24,300 jobs over the year.
· Among the State’s three MSAs, Carson City had the highest growth rate in seasonally-adjusted jobs this month, 4.4 percent.
Unemployment:
· Las Vegas: 5.1 percent; down 0.2 point from a year ago
· Reno: 4.1 percent; down 0.5 point from a year ago
· Carson City: 5.6 percent; unchanged from a year ago
· Unemployment rates decreased in all of the State’s major population centers on a month-over-month basis.
· The unemployment rate in six counties declined by half a percentage point or greater this month. (Nye, Washoe, Lander, Mineral, Storey, Douglas)
· Elko, Esmeralda, and Humboldt counties all have unemployment rates below four percent.
· Year-over-year decreases in initial claims activity in ten of Nevada’s counties this month.