Nevada employment near top of nation’s growth rate

Nevada’s private sector employment is growing faster than all but two other states in the nation.

Bill Anderson, chief economist for the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, said the state’s growth rate is 3.7 percent when compared to 2013. He said that’s higher than every other state except North Dakota’s 4.4 percent and Colorado’s 3.8 percent rate.

Anderson said the state has gradually regained ground lost during the recession. Prior to the recession, Nevada led the country in private sector employment growth with rates higher than 6 percent. But the state had the nation’s lowest growth rate in 2009 — a negative 10.1 percent.