CARSON CITY: State officials say growth in the workforce may be behind a slight increase in the Nevada statewide jobless rate in August, to 4.9 percent. The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation said Wednesday the uptick of one-tenth of a percentage point since July puts the unemployment figure back to February levels. The jobless rate bottomed out at 4.7 percent in March, April and May.
State economist Bill Anderson notes the August figure is still more than half-a-percent below the 5.5 percent of a year ago. Anderson says the state’s labor force has grown by more than 16,000 workers this calendar year. Gov. Brian Sandoval says that suggests people see positive job prospects in Nevada. Unemployment peaked in 2010, during the Great Recession, at nearly 14 percent.
