Lincoln County unemployment rate at 5 percent
CARSON CITY, Nev. – According to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation’s (DETR) July 2020 economic report, employment in Nevada realized an increase of 14,800 jobs over the month and saw a decrease of -138,700 jobs since July 2019, or -9.8%. The total employment level in the State is 1,281,100. The state’s unemployment rate is 14% in July, down 1.2 percentage point from June but up 10.1 percentage point when compared to July 2019.
“I am encouraged Nevada is continuing to recover the jobs lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic and some people are able to return to work. We still have a long way to go,” Acting Director Elisa Cafferata said.
Lincoln County’s unemployment rate is at 5 percent, with a labor force of 1,899 and 95 people unemployed.
DETR’s report also notes that Nevada’s Unemployment Insurance (UI) claims increased by 18,839 claims over the month and 56,826 over the year, or 39.4% and 575.6% respectively. The 12-month average level of initial claims continues to trend below 10,000.
“Nevada has added jobs for the third straight month in July, though at a slower pace than in previous months. Employment ticked up across most industries with professional & business services and education and health services adding the most jobs. The number of unemployed remains high but continues to improve. July’s data reflects a period of slower growth following the significant re-openings that took place in May and June. The challenges posed by the pandemic continue to weigh on the labor market, and the response to COVID-19 by businesses and the public continues to evolve. As the public health situation continues to develop, we will see corresponding impacts in employment and unemployment in the months ahead,” said David Schmidt, Chief Economist for DETR.
Additional July Economic Report Highlights:
- Nevada jobs up by (1.2%), US up by (+1.3%) from June to July.
- Professional and business services added the most jobs (+3,900) over the month.
- Leisure and hospitality (-15.9%) and other services (-16.6%) are down the most since the same time last year.
- The unemployment rate in Nevada is higher than the national rate in July and is at 14% on a seasonally adjusted basis and 14.2% on an unadjusted basis; the national rate is 10.2% adjusted and 10.5% unadjusted.
More recently, from DETR show initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) totaled 10,938 for the week ending Aug. 15, down 6,817 claims, compared to last week’s total of 17,755 claims. Through the week ending August 15, there have been 653,510 initial claims filed in 2020, 631,858 of which have been filed since the week ending March 14.
Continued claims, which represent the current number of insured unemployed workers filing weekly for unemployment insurance benefits, fell significantly to 240,346, a decrease from the previous week of 95,622 claims, or 28.5 percent. This is the fewest continued claims since the report week ending April 18 when there were 231,618 claims filed.
Lincoln County had four initial claims for the week ending Aug. 15 and 59 continued claims. The county had six initial and 86 continued claims the previous week.
Nevada’s insured unemployment rate, which is the ratio of continued claims in a week to the total number of jobs covered by the unemployment insurance system (also known as covered employment), fell by 6.9 percentage points to 17.3 percent. It should be noted that the calculation of the insured unemployment rate is different from that of the state’s total unemployment rate.
The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program for the self-employed, 1099 contract workers, and gig workers saw 12,356 initial claims filed in the week ending August 15, a decrease of 250, or 2.0 percent, from last week’s total of 12,606. This is the fewest PUA initial claims filed in a week since the start of the program. Through the week ending August 15, 410,065 PUA initial claims have been filed.
PUA continued claims totaled 109,617 in the week ending August 15, a decline of 18,109 from the previous week’s revised total of 127,726. Weekly PUA continued claims are now reported by the benefit week claimed. This follows the reporting procedure for regular continued claims and allows us to understand the number of unemployed workers filing weekly for PUA benefits.
Nevada’s Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, which providesup to 13 weeks of benefits to individuals who have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits, saw 19,798 claims filed in the week, an increase of 1,780 claims from a week ago.
Nevada’s State Extended Benefit (SEB) program, which provides up to 20 weeks of benefits to individuals who have exhausted both their regular unemployment benefits and PEUC program benefits, saw 1,477 claims filed in the week, an increase of 373 claims from a week ago.
Nationally, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted regular initial claims was 1,106,000 an increase of 135,000 claims from the previous week’s revised level of 971,000. The national insured unemployment rate for the week ending August 8 was 10.2 percent, a decrease of 0.4 percentage points from the previous week’s revised rate. The national rate is reported with a one-week lag.
Unemployment filing is available at http://ui.nv.gov/css.html or (888) 890-8211. Claimants are encouraged to file online, if possible.
For Nevada workers who are self-employed, 1099 contract workers, and gig workers, Nevada’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program (PUA) is available. For further information regarding the PUA program visit detr.nv.gov/pua#. Individuals can file online at www.employnv.gov or call the PUA Call Center at (800) 603-9681.DETR is aware of the unemployment fraud that is plaguing the state and is actively working with law enforcement entities and the Department of Labor to detect, prevent and address unemployment fraud. Employers and individuals who believe they have been a victim of unemployment fraud, can file a report with the agency by visiting www.detr.nv.gov and selecting the Fraud Reporting Form on the left under “Quick links.”