Nevada jobless rate hits record 13.4 percent in March; economist cites lost construction jobs

Nev. unemployment reaches new high of 13.4 percent

CARSON CITY, Nev. — Nevada’s unemployment rate rose to a record 13.4 percent in March, as the state lost 4,300 jobs from the previous month, the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported Friday.

State economist Bill Anderson said most of the job losses were in the construction trades, an industry that once helped fuel Nevada’s tourist-driven economy but suffered a brutal blow when the housing market collapsed. Nevada currently leads the nation in foreclosures.

The state has lost 26,000 construction jobs over the past year.

Nevada’s unemployment rate is up 0.2 percentage point from February, when 10,400 jobs were added, Anderson said. The state’s jobless rate remains second highest in the nation behind Michigan’s 14.1 percent and is well above the 9.7 percent national rate.

Nevada “continues on a turbulent path toward the bottom of the business cycle,” Anderson said, adding that 186,900 residents were out of work and looking for jobs.

“Any real turnaround in Nevada depends on sustained growth in the national economy and improved consumer sentiment,” Anderson said. “Nevada’s economy will continue to bounce along the bottom without any real direction.”

The jobless rate in Las Vegas dipped slightly to 13.8 percent. In the Reno-Sparks area, the rate dropped to 13.2 percent from an all-time high of 13.4 percent in February.

The Carson City regional unemployment rate declined from 13.7 to 13.3 percent. The rural Elko County area that includes Eureka County rose to 8.5 percent from 8.3 percent.

A year ago, Nevada’s jobless rate was 10.6 percent.

But Anderson said the rate of job losses has slowed since August, when 133,200 jobs were shed compared with the same month in 2008. The March year-over-year comparison was 50,100.

“If the gap between 2009 and 2010 continues to shrink at its current pace, over-the-year employment growth should take hold toward the end of this year,” Anderson said.