State unemployment below national figure

CARSON CITY -- Unemployment in Nevada in July fell to 4.2 percent, lower than both the national and California rates.

The state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported today the rate is below the 4.4 percent in June and compares with 4.5 percent nationally and 5.6 percent in California, which was that state's lowest level in eight years.

There were an estimated 42,800 jobless in Nevada last month while employment totaled 929,300, an increase of 4.4 percent from a year ago.

"With the new business development on the drawing board and planned and current business expansions, we see no downward trend in jobs creation through the first quarter of 1999," Department Director Carol Jackson said.

Jackson referred to the October opening of the Bellagio, which will have 9,500 employees, and the planned opening next year of the Mandalay Bay, Venetian and Resort at Summerlin.

The department said unemployment in the Las Vegas metropolitan statistical area inched down one-tenth of a percent to 4.6 percent with 32,700 jobless. There were 668,800 employed, up 5 percent from July of a year ago.

The area includes Clark and Nye counties in Nevada and Mohave County in Arizona. In the year-to-year comparison in the area, employment in hotels and gaming rose only 1.3 percent, but construction jobs jumped by 8.3 percent.

Other sectors that posted gains in jobs in the Las Vegas area were manufacturing, 5.9 percent; trade, 5.4 percent; finance, 5.6 percent; government workers, 8.1 percent; and transportation, 3.6 percent. The only downturn was 4.5 percent in mining, which is only a small part of the jobs economy in Southern Nevada.

Washoe County had a 3.5 percent jobless rate in July, down six-tenths of a percent, with an estimated 6,300 people out of work. Employment rose to 183,400, up 4.8 percent from a year ago.

Carson's labor market area, which includes Douglas, Lyon and Storey counties and Carson City, registered a 5.3 percent unemployment rate, down eight-tenths of a percent from June. Employment rose to 53,150, up 3.5 percent from a year ago.

Elko and Eureka counties reported the jobless rate at 5 percent, down from 6.1 percent of June. There were 22,910 employed in the two counties, up 4.2 percent from a year ago.

Statewide mining employment fell to 14,200 workers, down 5.3 percent from a year ago as the price of gold has dropped. But that was the only negative spot on the state's employment picture.

The department reported construction employment rose 9.4 percent, manufacturing 4.5 percent, hotel-casinos 1.3 percent, and government 8.1 percent.

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