Jobless claims drop in Clark County

Monday, April 18, 2005 | 10:47 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Unemployment dropped in Clark County in March while the number of jobs rose by 7.7 percent from a year.

The state Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation reported today the Clark County jobless number was 33,000 or 3.9 percent for March, compared with 4 percent in February and 4.8 percent in March 2004.

The department said the March rate statewide is 3.9 percent, the same as February. It was below the national rate of 5.2 percent and California's 5.8 percent.

There were an estimated 48,100 unemployed statewide in March, down from the 50,000 jobless in February.

Brigit Baker, director of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, said, "For the third month in a row the state's seasonally adjusted jobless rate held steady at 3.9 percent -- well within the range of historic low unemployment rates.

"Not only is the state's unemployment rate impressively low, but it is a full 1.3 percentage point lower than the national unemployment rate," Baker said.

The department said there were 1,197,900 employed statewide, up 4.1 percent from March of 2004. Baker said she expects a notable increase next month in the hiring in the leisure and hospitality sector next month when Steve Wynn opens his megaresort in Las Vegas.

The department reported there were 127,400 employed in March in the state in construction, up 18.5 percent from the prior year; casino hotels and gaming had 208,400 workers, up 2.4 percent; manufacutring rose 4.2 percent to 46,800; trade, transportation and utilities reported 206,900 or a 3.9 percent increase and financial activities reported 63,400 on the job, up 5.5 percent.

Professional and business services reported 139,400 workers statewide on the job in March, up 9.3 percent from a year ago; education and health services reported 83,500 workers, up 5.8 percent and government recorded a 4.8 percent increase to 147,000 workers compared with last year.

Clark County reported total employment of 851,500, up 7.7 percent from a year ago in March. Basin hotels and gamings had 169,100 workers up 3.6 percent; construction grew 19.2 percent to 96,409 workrs; manufacturing was up 4.8 percent to 23,900 workers and trade, transportation and utilities had 142,700 employees, up 4.6 percent.

The department also said financial activities in Clark County had 47,700 employees, up 6.2 percent; professional and business services grew 10.6 percent to 102,400 workers; education and health services gained 6.4 percent to 56,600 and government employment rose 6.4 percent to 89,500.