LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nevada’s unemployment rate decreased slightly in June as the state added back 4,800 jobs over the past month, according to July figures released Thursday by the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR).
The state’s 7.7% unemployment rate in July is down from 7.8% recorded in May and June, DETR said in Thursday’s report. The number of unemployed Nevadans has decreased by 458 since June, now totaling 121,664 people.
About 6,500 people have returned to work in the Las Vegas metro area since June, according to DETR statistics.
The labor force in Nevada is currently 1,577,618 people, which is 8,457 more people than last month and is up 65,030 people since July 2020, DETR reports.
This time last year, the unemployment rate was 16.6%, reflecting the significant effects of the pandemic.
Nevada’s rate remains higher than the national average. The U.S. added 943,000 jobs in July and drove its unemployment rate down to 5.4%.
“Although both the employment growth and unemployment rate trends are positive, there are still significant hurdles in achieving a full recovery in the state, especially the uncertainty around new COVID-19 variants and their potential impacts on businesses and the labor force,” DETR said.
There are currently 39,908 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claimants and 77,597 Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) claimants in Nevada. These federal programs will end on Sept. 4.
