Employment levels in Nevada are still down, but recovering, according to the December 2020 economic report from the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR). The state had 8,200 more people employed in December than it had the previous month, lowering the statewide unemployment rate to 9.2%–a decline from 10.4% in November.
County-by-county, Washoe fares much better with an unemployment rate of just 5.4%. Clark County, on the other hand, bears the greatest burden with 11.5% of the workforce unemployed.
“I’m encouraged to see that employment has increased and the unemployment rate has decreased in the State. We are looking forward to working with the Governor and legislature to continue focusing on getting Nevadans back to work,” Director Elisa Cafferata said.
DETR reports that employment is still below pre-pandemic levels, but the state is faring better than the nation as a whole. Nevada reported .6% growth in jobs, while the U.S. had a .1% decline in jobs.
The state also closed out 2020 with eight consecutive months of employment growth, according to David Schmidt, chief economist for DETR. That growth, however, was uneven and still leaves workers in several major industries in the lurch.
“Among private sector industries, only the mining and logging and financial activities industries have seen increases in employment since last year,” Schmidt said. “In contrast, the leisure and hospitality and other personal service industries remain particularly impacted by the pandemic. While the 9.2% unemployment rate is less than one-third of its record high of 30.1% in April, December’s labor force participation rate also fell below 60% for the first time since May, with a growing number of individuals neither working nor looking for work.”
Schmidt added that heading into 2021 Nevada will continue to feel the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, perhaps more so than other states.
Additional labor market data is available on DETR’s dashboards at http://www.nevadaworkforce.com.
