Nevada’s labor force reaches an all-time high in November

Nevada reached an all-time high in its labor force last month, and over 42,000 jobs have been created since last year, but the state’s employment rate is still sitting at 5 percent — about 1.7 percent higher than the national average.

New data released Thursday from the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation showed a stagnant unemployment rate in the Silver State from October as the labor force reached a record 1.6 million people.

Of the 1.6 million in the state’s labor force, 1.52 million people are employed, the department said. The state has seen 11 consecutive months of labor force gains.

The Las Vegas metropolitan area saw 4,800 jobs created in November over October — the most for any metropolitan area in the state. Since November 2022, 42,600 jobs have been created in the area, DETR said.

“November is typically the most important month for holiday hiring in the retail industry, and in 2023 we added over 4,000 jobs compared to October, roughly double what we saw a year ago, suggesting stronger expectations for this holiday season” DETR Chief Economist David Schmidt said in a news release.

Nevada saw a similar trend in October of growth in the state’s labor force with an unchanging unemployment rate.

Nevada’s unemployment rate of 5.4 percent in November sat above the national unemployment rate of 3.7 percent. Nevada has had an unemployment rate over 5 percent since November 2021, and an unemployment rate of 5.4 percent for four consecutive months.

Contact Taylor Lane at tlane@reviewjournal.com.