Thursday, April 9, 1998 | 10:54 a.m.
CARSON CITY - Nevada's jobless rate increased to 4.5 percent in February even though hiring held steady or increased in most employment areas, the state reported Thursday.
The seasonally adjusted rate was up from the 4.3 percent rate reported for January by the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.
DETR chief Carol Jackson said the state's economy remains strong although there's concern about the mining industry as a result of layoffs and production slowdowns due to low gold prices.
The mining industry reported a drop of about 300 workers between January and February - the only major employment area to show a decline.
Construction was up 600, manufacturing was up 200, transportation-utilities was up 100, trade was up 100, finance-insurance-real estate was up 200, casino-related service industries were up 2,300, and government was up 3,600, mainly due to schools reopening after term breaks.
DETR statistics show there were 904,200 people working in all industries during February, up 6,800 from January. There were 42,100 people without jobs, down from 42,700 in January.
DETR's monthly report shows the Las Vegas metropolitan area had an unadjusted February jobless rate of 4.2 percent, down from January's 4.4 percent.
The employment total in the area, which includes Clark and Nye counties in Nevada and Mohave County in Arizona, was 646,200 and the jobless total was 28,600.
The Reno area's unadjusted rate was 4.8 percent, up from 4.6 percent in January. The employment total for Washoe County was 177,200 and the jobless total was 8,300.
The Carson City-Douglas-Lyon-Storey rate was 7.5 percent, up from January's 7.2 percent. Employment totaled 49,590 and there were 4,010 people without jobs.
The Elko-Eureka counties' jobless rate was 6.4 percent, up from 6 percent in January. Employment totaled 22,000 and the jobless count was 1,500.
Monthly rates for other areas of the state aren't available from DETR.
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