Slowdown occurring before attacks

Friday, Sept. 28, 2001 | 9:39 a.m.

SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY -- Nevada's unemployment rate inched up to 4.8 percent in August with an estimated 51,400 people out of work, the state reported Thursday.

The state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation said this does not reflect the downturn in the economy after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on New York City and Washington D.C.

The department said Nevada's rate was one-tenth of a percentage point lower than the national rate and lower than neighboring California's 5.2 percent.

Department Director Myla Florence said, "No one can do more than make an educated forecast about how quickly our economy will rebound.

"Nevada is only beginning to feel the economic aftershock with layoffs in employment sectors closely tied to tourism. We can only speculate how long the downturn will last."

The department reported there were 5,549 new claims for jobless benefits last week, compared to 2,922 in the week before. And for the first three days this week, more than 1,000 claims were filed each day.

Florence also said the state's "remarkable job growth" slowed significantly before the attack. There were 1,068,600 people employed in August statewide, an increase of 3.2 percent from a year ago.

The department said the jobless rate in the Las Vegas metropolitan statistical area remained at 5.1 percent, the same as in July. There were an estimated 41,200 people out of work in the area that includes Clark and Nye counties in Nevada and Mohave County in Arizona.

There were 784,400 people employed in the Las Vegas area, an increase of 3.4 percent from a year ago.

Statewide the department reported that employment in mining fell by 4.5 percent in August compared to a year ago in the same month; construction rose 2.9 percent; manufacturing was up 2.7 percent; trade gained 5.9 percent; the service industries which include hotels and casinos, posted a 1.9 percent increase and government employment was up 3.5 percent.

In the Las Vegas area, construction employment inched up 2.7 percent from a year ago; manufacturing was up 2 percent; trade gained 6.2 percent; the service industries posted a 2 percent increase and government rose by 5 percent.

The department said unemployment in Washoe County rose from 3.7 percent in July to 3.8 percent in August with an estimated 7,000 people out of work. Total employment reached 200,300, up 2.5 percent from a year ago.

The Carson City labor market area reported a 5.2 percent unemployment rate with 3,090 people out of work. That's up from the 5 percent in July for the area that includes Douglas, Lyon and Storey counties and Carson City.

Elko and Eureka counties registered a 4.9 percent jobless rate with 1,030 unemployed. That's down from the 5.1 percent in July. There were an estimated 20,020 people employed, down 2 percent from a year ago.

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