Mining rebound helps lower Nevada jobless rate

Friday, July 31, 1998 | 11:15 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Nevada's unemployment rate fell in June to 4.3 percent, partly because of a rebound of mining activities in some rural counties, the state reported Thursday.

The seasonally adjusted rate is down four-tenths of a percentage point from May and is lower than the national average of 4.5 percent and California's 5.7 percent.

Carol Jackson, director of the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, said Nevada's economy should remain strong.

The department said mining employment statewide rose to 14,100, up from 13,600 in May. But it's still 700 jobs lower than in June 1997.

Because of a quirk in how the jobless rate is computed, actual unemployment rose in Clark and Washoe counties and in Carson City, three of the population centers in the state.

Karren Rhodes, public information officer for the department, said the statewide numbers are seasonally adjusted. But the numbers from the local areas are firm numbers with no seasonal factors built in.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical area, which includes Clark and Nye counties and Mohave County in Arizona, saw its unemployment rate rise to 4.7 percent, up six-tenths of a percentage point. There were an estimated 32,900 people out of work, up about 4,400 from May.

Statewide there were an estimated 44,700 people out of work, or 4,900 more than in May. Total employment reached 882,900, up 4 percent from June 1997.