Unemployment continues to drop in Nevada

Nevada's unemployment rate dropped below 4 percent in July even as the total workforce reached the 1 million mark.

Over the past year, the percentage of that workforce without jobs has dropped from 5.1 to 3.9.

That mirrors the drop from 5 percent to 3.9 in the Carson City reporting area, which includes Douglas, Lyon and Storey counties.

The Las Vegas area reported 4.2 percent unemployment, and the lowest percentage reported was for the Washoe County area, where unemployment dipped to just 2.6 percent in July compared to 3.7 percent a year ago.

Myla Florence, director of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, said there is a sharp difference between urban and rural Nevada.

"Metropolitan Nevada is experiencing extremely low unemployment coupled with high new jobs creation," she said.

She said the Reno area is creating new jobs faster than Las Vegas, "a rare happening particularly since there are no major resort openings in Reno."

When adjusted for seasonal changes in the number of people in the actual workforce, Nevada's rate drops even further to just 3.5 percent overall. That compares favorably with a 5 percent rate in California and 4 percent nationally.

The total labor force in the state as of July was 999,900. That is 44,100 more than a year ago. Of that total, 960,900 were employed - 739,800 of them in the Las Vegas reporting area. Another 179,400 workers were listed in the Reno-Washoe County area.

Carson City's workforce increased 3,060 over the past year to 58,440. Of those, 56,170 had jobs as of July.

Elko is the remaining reporting area and listed a total workforce of 22,480. Of those, 21,620 had jobs, leaving 2,270 out of work for a rate of 3.8 percent.