Nevada’s Unemployment Rates Remain Concerning, February Statistics Show

Nevada is a state famous for its flourishing gambling industry. Despite how brightly the spectacular Las Vegas casinos shine not everything is rosy in the Silver State.

Nevada Struggles with High Unemployment Rates

Clark County, the state’s southernmost region and the one housing the famous city of Las Vegas is struggling with unemployment, the Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation reported. The county boasts a population of 2.26 million – more than two-thirds of Nevada’s total population. Yet, around 5.3% of it (or about 120,000 people) seem to be without a job, according to data from February.

While people may expect Las Vegas, a city bustling with tourists, gambling enthusiasts, and job opportunities, to have a fairly low unemployment rate, the fact is that it has the highest such rate out of the whole of Clark County. The data shows that unemployment in Las Vegas had affected 5.3% of the city’s population in February. This number is almost twice as high as the one of Reno and Carson City (sitting at 2.8% and 3.2% respectively).

Clark County may be the biggest region in Nevada but is the one with the highest unemployment rate. Nye County is the one with the second-highest unemployment rate, sitting at 4.4%. In comparison, Eureka, the county with the lowest unemployment rate, has only 1.8% of people without a job.

Nevada’s Unemployment Rate Is Not the Worst in the US

The total unemployment across the whole of Nevada sits at around 5.1%, meaning that 157,500 people are currently without a job. Despite the struggles, the state is not on the top of the list of unemployment. According to the data from February, the District of Columbia has the highest unemployment rate, sitting at around 6.1%. It is followed by New Mexico with 5.6%, California and Alaska with 5.4% and Pennsylvania with 5.1%.

Taking a look at the bigger picture, the unemployment rate in the United States was 3.8% in February. The month’s results showed that there were about 6.3 million unemployed people across the entirety of the US, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. February’s numbers show a 0.2% decrease in unemployment since January, which brings the country closer to February 2020’s 3.5% rate. 

It is unfortunate that Nevada, a state famous for its numerous gambling businesses, is struggling with unemployment. It looks like, despite the tourism and busy industries, there is still an effort to be made to help the jobless people in the Silver State.

Not everything is grim, however. The state’s gambling industry continues to see record incomes. This March the state’s Nevada gambling hit the $1 billion revenue mark for the twelfth month in a row.