Friday, June 18, 2004 | 10:55 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Unemployment in May in Nevada fell to 4.1 percent, its lowest rate in nearly four years, another sign of the revived economy in the state.
The state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported today there were an estimated 43,000 people without jobs last month, down 12,900 from May of a year ago. The 4.1 percent compares with 4.3 percent in April, and it is the lowest rate since August 2000 when the rate was also 4.1 percent.
Gov. Kenny Guinn said, "Every major labor market in the state achieved a multi-year low in unemployment in May. The steady decline in rates over the past year confirms the strength of Nevada's economy."
Nevada's rate compared with 5.6 percent nationally and 6.2 percent in California.
Department Director Birgit Baker said there were 8,200 jobs created in May, bringing the yearly total to 47,600.
The department said the Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical area that includes Clark and Nye counties and Mohave County in Arizona, posted a 3.7 percent jobless rate, the lowest since May 2000. There were an estimated 35,000 without jobs, down 10,100 from a year ago. The 3.7 percent rate compares with 4.3 percent in April.
Total employment statewide reached 1,131,900, up 4.4 percent over the past year.
The department said jobs in construction grew 11.5 percent to 109,800 in the past year; manufacturing reported 45,300 employed, up 4.1 percent; trade employment increased 4.1 percent to 199,500; and hotels and casinos registered 206,800 jobs, up 0.7 percent in the year-to-year comparison statewide.
In the Las Vegas area, total jobs reached 856,600, a gain of 4.7 percent over May of 2003. Construction employment jumped 10.3 percent to 88,600 employed; manufacturing was up 5.6 percent to 26,500; trade grew 4.5 percent to 149,900 employed; and casinos and hotels inched up 1.5 percent to 167,600 jobs.
Government employment increased 3.1 percent to 94,400 in the Las Vegas area and professional and business services reported 97,6090 employed, up 5.4 percent over a year ago.
Jeff Manning, a Las Vegas construction consultant who works with developers, said the tightening labor pool is making it more difficult to hire employees, especially project managers.
"Right now what we're seeing is that there's a definite demand for project managers," Manning said. "Quality project managers are hard to find in this city because there's so much construction going on. The lower level positions are easier to fill. Project managers on up are very difficult to find right now and they're pretty much naming their price."
Catholic Healthcare West, which operates St. Rose Dominican Hospital -- Siena Campus and St. Rose Dominican Hospital -- Rose de Lima Campus, say it hasn't seen a change in its labor pool.
The two Henderson hospitals combined receive about 1,000 applications per month for positions such as housekeeping and food services, St. Rose spokesman Andy North said.
"We haven't had to change our wages -- we are already very competitive with the market and we haven't had a slow down in applications," North said.
HCA Inc. owned MountainView Hospital said it has not had any difficulty hiring support staff such as clerical, administrative and environmental employees.
"We don't have difficutly in hiring the support staff," MountainView human resources director Robert Nettles said. "What I see is there is enough of that skill set that keeps replenishing the labor pool as a result of people moving into Las Vegas. It's quite the opposite for our nurses."
"We haven't had to inflate rates to attract applicants," Nettles said. "We look at the prevailing rates in the market and we stay competitive with that."
The jobless rate in Washoe County fell to 3.3 percent, down from the 3.9 percent in April. There were an estimated 6,800 people out of work. Total employment reached 207,100, up 4 percent from May 2003.
The department said the Carson City labor market posted a 4.5 percent unemployment rate, down from the 5.3 percent in April. There were an estimated 2,830 people out of work. Total employment rose to 59,620, an increase of 1.5 percent compared with a year ago.
Elko and Eureka counties posted a 3.6 percent jobless rate, down from 4.2 percent in April. There were an estimated 790 people without jobs. Total employment grew 7 percent over the year to 20,860 jobs.
Business writer
Michelle Swafford contributed to this report.
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