By Elizabeth Crum, Nevada News Bureau: The statewide unemployment rate has increased to 13.4 percent, up from 12.9 percent in July. In all, 176,200 people were out of work in August.
Unemployment in Las Vegas rose for the fourth straight month. the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) reported this morning. The jobless rate jumped to 14.2 percent in August, up from 14 percent in the prior month.
Bill Anderson, chief economist for DETR, said the market is not improving as well as many would hope.
“The market continues to experience flat employment readings and an increasing jobless rate,” said Anderson in a statement. “The good news is that dramatic job losses have subsided; unfortunately, it is not enough to consistently bring the unemployment rate down. The poor condition of the construction industry continues to contribute heavily to Nevada’s economic stalemate.”
Employment levels have dropped 0.2 percent statewide since the beginning of the year, for a loss of 2,000 jobs.
The DETR report also showed increases in the number of longer-term unemployed. In the 12 month period ending in August, workers without jobs for more than 26 weeks accounted for half of Nevada’s unemployed.
“The ramifications of extended joblessness for this segment of the workforce are potentially profound and long lasting,” Anderson stated. “When a person is out of work for a long period of time, skills and experience diminish, making it more difficult to find employment as time goes on.”
Nationally, the unemployment rate was 9.1 percent in August.
