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Nevada falls to 13 percent; national rate up
The percentage of Nevadans out of work went down in October for the first time since February 2008.While the seasonally adjusted rate fell three-tenths to 13 percent, the unadjusted rate fell a full percentage point to 12.6 percent.
That translates to 175,300 Nevadans looking for a job instead of 190,700 in September.
Reactions to the decrease, however, were mixed, with Bill Anderson, chief economist for the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation saying the state's economic troubles are far from over.
“As we head into the holiday season, this is welcome news,” he said. “However, it is not a reason to be overly optimistic.”
He said it is a good sign that the economy is beginning to stabilize.
Anderson was optimistic compared to Gov. Jim Gibbons, who said the decrease is “a temporary drop and not a sign that Nevada's economy is turning around.”
“The decline in unemployment has not been followed by an increase in the employment base,” he said. “Clearly the federal stimulus dollars have been better at retaining existing jobs rather than creating new jobs.”
That statement is in sharp contrast to one issued by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who described it as “a positive development and further evidence that Nevada is starting down the economic road to recovery.”
Reid pointed to legislation he pushed extending unemployment benefits and the stimulus legislation he said is designed to strengthen the economy and create jobs.
He said the health care bill he introduced this week will help more by lowering health care costs.
Nevada's overall decrease in unemployment came despite an increase of four-tenths nationally. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 29 states including California, Florida and New York saw their jobless rate rise in October. But the national rate still is far below that of Nevada — 10.2 percent.
The unadjusted rate fell just about a full percentage point in all three metropolitan reporting areas. In Carson City's case, the rate went from 12.8 percent in September to 11.7 percent in October — leaving about 3,500 out of work.
The Reno area saw its rate fall from 13.1 percent to 12.2 percent and Las Vegas reported 13 percent in October, down from 13.9 percent.
Lyon County remains hardest hit in the state at 15.2 percent for October. But that's better than the 16.4 percent that county reported in September. Similarly, Storey County came in at 12.8 percent compared to 14.7 percent in September.
Churchill County's rate went down from 9.9 percent to 9.3 percent in October while Douglas fell from 12.7 to 11.9 percent during the month.
Statewide, the number of people out of work is being driven by a
27 percent decrease in construction jobs. Construction has lost nearly 31,000 jobs in the past year.
Casino hotels and gaming businesses have cut just less than 16,000 jobs since October 2008 and the leisure and hospitality industry as a whole some 20,000.
More states add jobs, but many for temporary staff
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a sharp improvement, more than half of U.S. states added jobs in October, though economists said many of the gains likely occurred in temporary employment.
That's customarily a positive a sign. Employers usually hire temporary workers before they add full-time jobs. But in this case, the temporary hiring may be inflated by the auto sector, which has boosted production to replace depleted inventories. As a result, the increase might not be sustainable. Some of last month's job gains also were in sectors such as education, health care and government, which have fared relatively well during the recession. By contrast, there's little evidence that companies in hard-hit industries are hiring permanent staff. Overall, 28 states added jobs in October. That's up from only seven in September and eight in August. It's also the largest number to record increases since 33 states did so in February 2008, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank. “It's a positive signal ... that states are mixed rather than uniformly bad,” said Jim Diffley, a regional economist at IHS Global Insight. Previous reports have all been “doom and gloom,” he said. Many states that added jobs still saw an increase in their unemployment rates. The figures for jobs and unemployment come from separate reports. The unemployment rate is calculated from a survey of households, while the jobs count comes from a survey of businesses. The two don't always match up. The unemployment rates rose in 29 states in October from the previous month, the Labor Department said Friday. Thirteen states saw their jobless rates drop. Michigan still had the nation's highest unemployment rate in October: 15.1 percent. It was followed by Nevada at 13 percent, Rhode Island at 12.9 percent, California at 12.5 percent and South Carolina's 12.1 percent. California, Florida, Delaware and Washington, D.C., posted their highest unemployment rates on records dating to 1976. Still, Michigan's jobless rate fell from 15.3 in September, as the state gained 38,600 jobs, mostly in professional and business services sector. That category includes temporary workers. Other states with heavy auto manufacturing activity also saw jumps in the professional and business category. They included Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. Sophia Koropeckyj, managing director at Moody's Economy.com, said the gains could reflect greater use of temp workers by auto makers. The government's Cash for Clunkers auto rebate program led to big sales gains in August, forcing auto makers to increase production to replace inventories. But sales dropped after the clunkers program ended. And demand for new cars is likely to remain weak, Koropeckyj said. “We won't necessarily see a sustained increase” in auto employment, she added. Koropeckyj said her firm hopes to see higher manufacturing and construction employment. That would reflect increasing business investment, a key ingredient for a healthy recovery. But it wasn't apparent in Friday's report, she said. Still, there were other positive signs. Texas added 41,700 jobs, increasing its total payrolls for only the second time in the past year. Its unemployment rate edged up to 8.3 percent from 8.2 percent. Most of Texas' gains were in education, health care and government. California, which added over 25,000 jobs, saw a similar mix. Oklahoma added 8,800 jobs, the fourth-highest in the country, mostly in professional and business services, education and health care. Nevada, meanwhile, saw its unemployment rate drop to 13 percent, from 13.3 percent. That's the first decline in its rate since November 2005. Much of the gain, however, was a result of a drop in Nevada's labor force, as about 14,200 people gave up looking for work. People who stop looking for jobs are no longer counted as unemployed. The national unemployment rate jumped to 10.2 percent in October, the highest in 26 years, from 9.8 percent in September. |
