Carson City, Reno see slight unemployment increase in November
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Tue, 12/22/2015 - 11:20am
The unemployment rate in Carson City and Reno areas saw slight increases in November, according to figures released Tuesday by the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.
Carson City’s unemployment rate for November rose slightly to 6.8 percent, up from 6.6 percent in October, while the rate in Reno/Sparks increased to 5.7 percent, up from 5.6 percent. November’s unemployment rate in Las Vegas remained at 6.3 percent.
Las Vegas experienced the highest nominal growth over the year, adding 23,000 jobs, but saw a decrease of a seasonally adjusted 1,600 jobs in November. The state added a total of 30,900 jobs year over year, said Bill Anderson, chief economist for Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. Reno/Sparks saw a seasonally adjusted decrease of 1,300 jobs in November.
In November, 14,111 initial claims for unemployment insurance were filed in Nevada, up from October, but down 10.7 percent this year through November. Initial claims have averaged 13,205 claims per month over the last 12 months.
Nevada has seen a rise in initial claims from October to November in every year since 2002. This year was no different, with initial claims rising by more than 20 percent from last October’s total as Nevada’s seasonal layoff period began in November, said Anderson.
New initial claims, the primary type of initial claim, saw a 4 percent decline from November 2014. This year through November, new initial claims are down nearly 7 percent compared to last year. Initial claims tend to increase on a seasonal basis during the fall and winter months and then drop during the spring and summer. Over the next two months, the seasonal increase in claims is expected to continue, but thereafter the number should begin to taper.
“Other areas of unemployment insurance activity continue to show improvement relative to 2014,” Anderson said. “Overall, there are fewer people receiving unemployment benefits and fewer claimants are running out of benefits. Through November, there has been an average of 26,800 claimants per month, down more than 3,000 from 2014, reducing the amount of benefits paid to claimants year-to-date by nearly 5 percent or $15.5 million. Reduction in the level of benefits paid results in less strain on Nevada’s unemployment insurance trust fund, allowing the fund to move closer to preferred adequacy levels.”
An initial claim represents the first stage of filing for unemployment benefits and is therefore most closely related to the number of people who have recently lost their jobs, not the overall level of unemployment. Initial claims peaked during the recession at 36,414 in December 2008, and the low point for initial claims was 10,963 in May 2015.
