CARSON CITY (KTNV) — Employment in Nevada increased over the month by 8,200 jobs as the state continues to recover. Jobs remain below typical levels, down 96,900 jobs since December 2019, for an annual decline of 6.8% according to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation’s (DETR) December 2020 economic report.
The total employment level in the State is 1,328,300. Nevada added jobs back over the month while the nation contracted, growing at 0.6% and -0.1%, respectively. The State’s unemployment rate in December is 9.2%, down from 10.4% in November 2020 but up 5.5 percentage points when compared to December 2019.
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“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.
“Nevada wrapped up the year with the eighth consecutive month of employment growth and ongoing improvement in the state’s unemployment rate. Among private sector industries, only the mining and logging and financial activities industries have seen increases in employment since last year. In contrast, the leisure and hospitality and other personal service industries remain particularly impacted by the pandemic. While the 9.2 percent unemployment rate is less than one-third of its record high of 30.1 percent in April, December’s labor force participation rate also fell below 60 percent for the first time since May, with a growing number of individuals neither working nor looking for work. As we enter 2021, Nevada remains one of the states feeling the deepest impacts from the COVID pandemic,” said David Schmidt, Chief Economist for DETR.
