Friday, July 22, 2011 | 6:52 a.m.
Heller, Reid comment
U.S. Senator Dean Heller, R-Nev., today offered the following statement on Nevada’s June unemployment rate:
“President Obama can’t talk his way out of the troubling fact that Nevada’s unemployment rate is growing. The policies of this Administration are making our economy worse, and Nevadans are feeling the pain. Throwing money at the problems through big-government interventions and programs clearly does not work. Washington needs to focus on real solutions that restrain spending and promote stability so Nevadans can get back to work,” said Heller.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., released the following statement:
“After five months of decreasing unemployment in Nevada, today’s report is disappointing and a clear indication that job creation must continue to be the top priority. Unfortunately, Republicans in Washington have their priorities upside down, supporting the so-called ‘Cut, Cap and Balance Act’ that not only kills Medicare and undermines Social Security, but will destroy nearly one million jobs nationwide. We need to work together to create good paying jobs in the state — not pursue an ideological agenda that will send more Nevadans to the unemployment lines.”
CARSON CITY – Unemployment shot up to 13.8 percent in the Las Vegas area in June, the highest mark this year.
Aan estimated 130,300 persons were jobless — 14,000 more than the previous month, May, when the unemployment rate was 12.4 percent.
”An analysis of the June Labor market condition suggests the recent weakness evident at the national level may be trickling into the Silver State,” said Bill Anderson, chief economist with the Nevada Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation.
The state unemployment rate rose to 12.4 percent in June from 12.1 percent in May. An estimated 162,900 Nevadans were jobless in June.
The agency reported total employment in Las Vegas dropped from 824,000 in May to 812,200 in June A good part of that decrease was government workers.
Anderson said, all things considered, Nevada’s job market is essentially flat.
Employment in casino-hotels and gaming in Las Vegas rose in June as the summer tourist season opened. There were an estimated 161,300 employed in this segment, up 1,800 workers from May. Anderson said some of the gains were seasonal in nature “but some can be attributed to the uptick in tourism Las Vegas has experienced so far in 2011.”
Construction employment in Southern Nevada inched up to 39,400, up 100 workers from May. But government employment dipped from 96,600 in May to 89,800 workers in June.
The trade, transportation and utilities sector had 141,800 workers, down 1,100 from May in Las Vegas.
The department reported the jobless rate in the Reno-Sparks area increased from 11.8 percent in May to 13 percent in June. And Carson City’s rate rose from 11.5 percent in May to 12.5 percent in June.
Anderson said that spring job growth statewide in the retail sector stalled in June as employers trimmed 800 jobs. And educational health and services statewide lost 800 jobs.
But he added that statewide “Not everything in the report is doom and gloom, though. The administrative and support and waste management and remediation services sector, which includes temporary hiring agencies, added 1,900 jobs.”
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy