Great news about the Reno-Sparks economy: About 5,900 jobs returned to the region’s economy during May.
Not-so-great-news about the region’s economy: Even after the return of those 5,900 positions, there were 32,500 fewer jobs in the region than there were January, the recent high-water mark for employment. The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation says the 218,300 jobs in the local economy during May compared with 250,800 jobs just four months earlier.
The region’s jobless rate stood at 16 percent during May. That means that about 35,200 people in the Reno-Sparks area were looking for jobs during the month.
In Las Vegas, by comparison, unemployment stands at 29 percent. Nearly 300,000 people in Las Vegas — 295,800, to be precise — were out of work during May.
Not surprisingly, restaurants and bars accounted for the strongest rebound in Reno-area employment during May as consumer-oriented business reopened. The state’s economists said the number of jobs in those business increased by 25 percent during May. On the other hand, the number of workers in restaurants and bars still was more than 40 percent below the pre-pandemic level.
Retail jobs, meanwhile, bounced back by 11 percent during the month. They’re within striking distance — 8 percent — of employment levels before COVID-19 outbreak.
State economists noted that the diversity of the northern Nevada economy — particularly the growth of manufacturing jobs — provided some cushion from the free-fall in employment that struck Las Vegas with its reliance on tourism.
The Reno-Sparks area is home to about 25,800 manufacturing jobs, a number that hasn’t budged much since the arrival of COVID-19.
Along with the return of restaurant, bar and retail jobs, and the continued strength of manufacturing employment, the Reno-Sparks economy got a measure of support from unemployment payments. The state said it paid $45.3 million to jobless workers in Washoe County during May. (That figure doesn’t include the additional $600 a week in federal unemployment payments received by jobless workers.)
One last fun fact to know and tell: The state’s economists now estimate that Nevada’s jobless rate in April stood at 30.1 percent. That’s the highest unemployment ever recorded in any state — not just Nevada, but any state — since the current system of calculating the jobless rate was introduced in 1976.
