Job market slows, still strong

By Cristina Rodriguez / Staff Writer

Despite downturns in several key statistical categories, Nevada's job market remains stronger than most other states'.

A slowdown in housing construction trickled through the workforce. There were more craftsmen out of work, and that meant fewer opportunities for mortgage officers and real estate agents.

The addition of the Red Rock and South Point hotels was not enough to expand the gaming employee sector. With the 2006 closing of the Lady Luck and Stardust hotels, Nevada saw a net loss of 900 gaming positions.

The unemployment rate in December was 4.4 percent, the second-highest rate seen in the past two years. Compare that to 3.8 percent statewide in December 2005.

But not to worry. Nevada's still rockin'.

"We're certainly not talking recession," said Jim Shabi, economist with the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. "Nationally (job growth in 2006) was 1.4 percent. We're producing jobs at four times the national average over the course of the year."

The 2006 job growth rate in Las Vegas was 5.7 percent, compared with 7.2 percent in 2005 and 6.9 percent in 2004. Nevada's overall growth rate last year was 5.3 percent.

Resort construction projects on the Strip will likely push job creation for the next few years.

Shabi is predicting 5 percent growth in 2007 for the state, but he does not have a prediction for the Las Vegas area yet.

Looking at 2006 numbers, it's clear the picture is not as bright as it was at the end of 2005.

"We saw a moderating trend," Shabi said. "It wasn't that it was bad. We're still adding jobs overall, but adding them in a slower pace. In the picture curve of the business cycle, we're on a downward slope. We hit the peak in 2005."

New home permits were down 30 percent by the time the year ended. The negative trend started in May, so that by December the month's total of permits was down nearly 65 percent.

The state reported 5,400 initial unemployment claims from construction industry workers in December, which was up from 3,700 claims in December of the previous year. That was a 46 percent increase, in comparison to the overall 14 percent increase in initial claims. Those construction claims could have been from bad weather, but lowered demand is the important factor. Benefits can be paid to people who had to stop working for reasons they had no control over.

"We saw a pretty good climb in the last three months of year," Shabi said. "It was below 4,000 in September. This is a sign that more people are being laid off from job sites."

Nevada's relatively low inventory of new homes - it's a one-month supply by some estimates - could help in a rebound, according to a seminar in November sponsored by Builder and Big Builder magazines.

The cooling residential market did not mean job loss for the ancillary sectors, but rather it prompted a lower rate of growth. For example, numbers reported for December 2005 showed 7 percent growth in real estate professionals. In December 2006, there had been just 1.9 percent growth for the year.

The financial activities sector increased by 2.8 percent in December, compared to an increase of 5.6 percent that was seen from December 2004 and 2005. Casino hotels, likewise, had a one-half percent drop in employment last year after reporting a 5.2 percent rise the year before.

Construction jobs grew by 7.6 percent in December, compared to the 12.1 percent growth seen in that frame the previous year.

By comparison, growth has been more steady in the health care and social assistance sector. Those positions grew by 3.1 percent in December and had grown by 4.3 percent in the previous period.

The figures are available on NevadaWorkforce.com.

DETR also published a 2007 Job Outlook that predicts the leisure and hospitality sector to add 17,000 new jobs and the construction industry to add 10,000 new jobs this year.

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