March unemployment was down slightly in Carson City and Lyon County, but inched upward in Douglas, according to figures released Monday from the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.
Unemployment dropped to 9.8 in Carson City, down from 9.9 percent in February and 10.3 percent in January. In Lyon County the March unemployment rate was 12.6 percent, down from February's 12.7 percent and January's 13.1 percent.
Douglas County rose to 9.9 percent, up from February's 9.8 percent and January's 10.3 percent.
Statewide, Nevada’s unemployment rate remained at a seasonally-adjusted 8.5 percent for March, the same as February. The unemployment rate is down from 10.2 percent year-over-year. This equates to 117,000 Nevadans out of work.
In March, 13,267 initial claims for unemployment insurance were filed in Nevada, a 14 percent drop compared to March 2013, and a drop of 64 percent compared to the worst month of the recession. Initial claims have fallen compared to the previous year for 16 straight months and in 49 of the past 52 months.
“In the two years prior to the beginning of the recession, the average monthly level of initial claims was 12,500, so the overall level of initial claims is very close to the level of claims we would expect to see in a stable job market,” said Bill Anderson, chief economist for Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. “Combined with increases in the overall number of jobs in the state, this suggests that the labor market in Nevada is firmly on the mend.”
An initial claim represents the first stage of filing for unemployment benefits, and is therefore most closely related to the number of people who have recently lost their jobs, not the overall level of unemployment.
Initial claims tend to increase on a seasonal basis during the fall and winter months, and then fall during the spring and summer.
Initial claims peaked during the recession at 36,414 in December 2008, and the low point for initial claims was 11,985 in September 2013. See the March report below.