Nevada Unemployment is Highest in Country, 5.5 Percent of Labor Force Out of Work
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, Nevada's unemployment rate is at 5.5%, making it the highest in the country.
The national unemployment rate in the US for June was reported by the federal labor agency as 4.1%, a decrease of 0.1% from May. Nevada's 5.5% joblessness rate exceeds the national average by 1.4%.
The unemployment rates for South Dakota and North Dakota are the highest, at 1.8% and 2.5%, respectively. Vermont (2.6%), Hawaii (2.8%), and Montana (2.8%) complete the top five.
While some Nevadans have secured employment in recent months and the state’s unemployment rate has dipped slightly from 5.8% in January, around 92,000 adults in Nevada are still without jobs
"We continue to see modest improvements in Nevada’s labor markets, with ongoing employment growth and further declines in the unemployment rate. Further, Nevada’s labor force participation rate increased to 63%, higher than the national average of 62.4%,” said Nevada Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation Chief Economist David Schmidt.
“Wage gains continued with hourly wages up 6.8% and weekly wages up 7.5% over the last year,” Schmidt added.
Gambling Sector Hinders State
La parte económica más importante de Las Vegas, Nevada, está desacelerándose. May represented the Strip's fourth straight month of declines in year-over-year gross gaming revenue.
Visitor numbers in Las Vegas have decreased by 6.5% from 2024 through May. Due to over 1.1 million fewer visitors to Southern Nevada in the five months, numerous casinos and local businesses have reduced expenses by downsizing staff.
Casinos that have started to implement layoffs include the Rio, which is located off the Strip. The Venetian Resort dismissed several dozen managers, while Resorts World cut about 50 jobs in anticipation of a $10.5 million penalty imposed by the state on the north Strip property for permitting convicted felons and those associated with illegal bookmaking to gamble at the casino.
MGM Resorts, the biggest company on the Strip, has also faced layoffs. In April, the Bellagio operator removed concierge services from six of its nine Strip locations. Rumors suggest that Caesars Entertainment will reveal layoffs later today.
It's not just casinos that are cutting down on their staff. In the previous month, the Bahama Breeze Island Grille submitted a federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) to DETR, notifying the state about the closure of the restaurant at 375 Hughes Center Dr., situated east of the Strip on Flamingo Rd. Over 80 employees were affected.
Unemployment Assistance Website Shuts Down
Nevada state authorities indicate that there are approximately 22,500 current unemployment insurance claims as of May. Those applicants faced challenges in securing their unemployment benefits earlier this month when DETR temporarily disabled its insurance system for what the agency claims was a necessary upgrade.
DETR's Claimant Self-Service site was unavailable from Monday, June 30, to Tuesday, July 8. State officials indicated that the maintenance upgrade lasting a week was aimed at modernizing the claims submission system
“This transformation is the result of years of planning and development, and it will provide claimants with faster, more user-friendly, and mobile-accessible services,” said DETR Director Christopher Sewell.
In Las Vegas, individuals receiving unemployment benefits may obtain as much as $469 weekly in payments.
