LV’s jobless rate falls

Friday, April 10, 1998 | 10:49 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- While unemployment fell in Southern Nevada in February, the jobless rate in the rest of the state inched up.

The state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported Thursday the Las Vegas metropolitan statistical area posted a 4.2 percent unemployment rate, down two tenths of a percentage point from January.

The rates were up in the other labor markets of Washoe County, Carson City and Elko.

Statewide, the department said, the jobless rate rose to 4.5 percent, up two-tenths of a percentage point from January. But the state rate is one-tenth of a point lower than the national level and 1.2 points lower than California.

Department Director Carol Jackson said, "Nevada continues to produce new jobs at an impressive rate; our economy is healthy and unemployment and inflation are low.

"Our primary employment concern is with the mining industry since several mines have laid off workers and slowed production due to current low gold prices."

The economies of many rural towns are tied to the mining industry. And when mining slows, rural mining towns suffer.

"On the positive side, we do expect gold prices to rebound in the future," Jackson said. "Additionally, several planned projects in rural Nevada will help the employment picture."

Projects include a $330 million expansion at the Gold Strike Mine in Elko County that will employ about 1,000 people during construction and about 100 permanent workers. Simplot plans a fertilizer plant near Wells. Construction will employ 1,500 and there will be 200 permanent workers at the plant. Getchell Gold intends to hire up to 250 more workers this year for its underground gold mining area in Humboldt County.

The department said there were an estimated 864,900 people statewide holding jobs in February, up 4.7 percent from a year ago. The number of unemployed statewide was 42,100.

The Las Vegas area, which includes Clark and Nye counties in Nevada and Mohave County, Ariz., reported total employment of 657,200, up 5.1 percent from a year ago. The number of jobless dropped from 30,100 in January to 28,600 in February.