Nevada figures show unemployment in Las Vegas slid lower in August, but the region’s tourism-dependent and pandemic-battered economy still leads the state in the number of jobless.
An estimated 15.5 percent of the Las Vegas workforce was unemployed in August, down from 16.6 percent in July but still almost twice the national rate, according to a report from the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.
Nationwide, the jobless rate was above 8 percent last month.
Elsewhere in Nevada, Nye County’s unemployment rate was 9.6 percent last month, Reno’s was 7.2 percent and Elko’s was 4.7 percent, the department reported.
Moreover, Las Vegas, where most of the state’s residents live, also is seeing “the slowest rebound in jobs,” the DETR said, noting “the extreme impact” the pandemic’s shutdowns have had on the valley’s tourism and gaming industries.
The local jobless rate, just 3.9 percent in February, skyrocketed after Governor Steve Sisolak in mid-March ordered the state’s casino industry to close to contain the spread of the pandemic. By April, unemployment in Las Vegas had soared to 34 percent.
Overall, the region has shed more than 127,000 jobs since August 2019, according to seasonally adjusted figures from DETR.
