By Cy Ryan
CARSON CITY – For the second consecutive month, Nevada placed second in the nation for its unemployment rate, trailing only Michigan.
The U.S. Department of Labor said today Nevada’s rate of 13.3 percent was second to Michigan’s 15.3 percent in September.
The state reported Tuesday there were 190,700 workers who were jobless in September. And the 13.3 percent is a record for the state.
The labor department said the national rate was 9.8 percent. Rhode Island posted a 13 percent jobless rate and California reported a 12.2 percent unemployment rate. Lowest in the nation was South Dakota at 4.8 percent.
A year ago in September, Nevada’s rate was 7.3 percent.
William Anderson, chief economist for the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, says the construction industry has been hit the hardest in Nevada in the downturn of the economy.
The gaming and hotel business added 77,300 Las Vegas jobs during the 10-year period ending in 2007. But in the last two years 30,000 of those jobs have been eliminated.
“The much-anticipated opening of the CityCenter project in Las Vegas should help ease job losses in the months ahead, but the industry as a whole, the negatives continue to outweigh the positives,” Anderson said.
The labor department said Nevada’s unemployment rate in 2007 was 4.7 percent. That was the 35th highest in the nation. The national average that year was 4.6 percent.
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