Nevada unemployment rate skyrockets in March due to pandemic

Nevada’s unemployment rate shot up to the highest level in years last month as the coronavirus pandemic started shutting down the economy.

An estimated 6.3 percent of the state’s workforce was unemployed in March, up from 3.6 percent in February, the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, or DETR, reported Wednesday.

The report shows the “earliest effects” of the pandemic on Nevada’s tourism-dependent economy, as it covers the first few weeks of March, before Gov. Steve Sisolak ordered sweeping business closures to help contain the virus’ spread, the department said.

Despite that, Nevada’s unemployment rate reached its highest level since December 2015, according to DETR.

The Las Vegas Valley was already rapidly shutting down over fears of the virus by the time Sisolak told casinos and other businesses to close their doors last month. Las Vegas’ main financial engine, the Strip, has effectively closed amid the turmoil, and jobless claims have skyrocketed.

A record 208,869 initial unemployment insurance claims were filed in Nevada last month — up 2,125 percent from March 2019, DETR said.

Christopher Robison, supervising economist at the department, said the unemployment rate is a snapshot and, for now, does not encompass the vast majority of business closure-related job losses the state is seeing.

He noted that 30 percent of Nevada’s labor pool was essentially told to “go home,” and even though workers who were paid by companies that closed their doors still count as employed, state officials expect the jobless rate to be “significantly higher” in next month’s report.

Alana Bernath, a cocktail server with two young daughters, said Wednesday that she was laid off from the Aria last month. Her husband, a bartender at the Golden Nugget, was laid off days later, she said.

Asked whether she was looking for work amid the turmoil, Bernath said she has a cosmetology license but noted salons are closed as well.

“Everything’s shut down,” she said.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.