RENO, Nev. (AP) — Nevada’s unemployment rate dipped slightly in July to 7.7% but state employment officials said Thursday the pace of job growth slowed a bit from June as casinos and other businesses continued to recover from impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
The jobless rate continued to decline from 7.8% in June. It was 16.6% in July 2020.
Nevada has recovered about 68% of jobs lost during the recession and overall employment has grown to within 92% of the prerecession peak, the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation said in the monthly jobless report.
Chief Economist David Schmidt said it provides the best look so far at the pace of employment recovery since the state fully relaxed business restrictions in June.
“While July data is positive, there is still significant disruption to the economy as businesses and labor force seek to recover from the effects of the pandemic,” he said.
Some industries have exceeded their pre-recession peak employment while others remain significantly lower, Schmidt said.
The casino-hotel industry is 62% recovered but remains down 67,000 jobs, while food services is 97% recovered and retail trade employment is now 100%, he said.
Employment in the Las Vegas area increased from June by 6,500 jobs in July. Reno-Sparks added 500 jobs
