Nevada added 11,200 jobs in August, marking the largest monthly increase in eight years. At the same time, the unemployment rate held steady at 9.5 percent.
“After all of the monthly ups and downs, we appear to be on track to add approximately 20,000 jobs in 2013 on top of the combined 30,000 created in 2011 and 2012,” said Gov. Brian Sandoval.
The majority of those jobs, however, came from the hospitality industry adding back workers.
The increase follows the loss of 10,200 jobs just a month earlier.
Because of that large swing, economist Bill Anderson of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation cautioned not to pay too much attention to month-to-month but instead look at yearly increases. He said Nevada has had its best summer since 2005, adding some 7,900 jobs since June.
Churchill County’s jobless rate held steady at 7.7 percent. There the decrease in the labor force from 12,900 to 12,660 was offset by a 220-person decrease in those with jobs to 11,680.
Contrary to what happened at the state level, Carson’s unemployment dipped from 9.5 percent to 9.4 percent in August even though the capital lost about 200 jobs.
Carson’s improvement can be explained by the fact that the city’s total work force decreased by 600 since July, while the number of job-holders grew and the number employed grew by more than 400.
Reno-Sparks, too, saw a smaller labor force, down 1,300 to 218,400. Because of that, even with some 700 fewer employed, the area’s jobless rate dropped from 9.3 percent to 9.1 percent.
Las Vegas reported the same situation with about 500 fewer in the work force, helping to lower the rate 0.1 percent to 9.6 percent.
Douglas County’s unemployment rate fell from 9.6 percent to 9.4 percent — a total of 2,010 out of 21,400 in the market seeking work. That is 510 fewer people in the market seeking work.
Lyon County was one of the few reporting areas to see an increase in the jobless rate, up 0.1 percent to 12.4 percent. The labor force there lost 530 people during the month, but total employment fell 480.