Nevada's 28.2% jobless rate worst in US; worst state history

RENO, Nev. (AP) — More than one-fourth of Nevada’s workforce is out of a job, with an April unemployment rate of 28.2% that's the worst in nation and the worst any state has seen since the national jobless rate was estimated at 25% in 1933 during the depths of the Great Depression, state officials said Friday.

“They are sobering numbers, far in excess of anything we have experienced as a state before now,” said David Schmidt, chief economist for the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.

Nevada has been hit especially hard by the coronavirus pandemic because so many of its jobs are tied to travel, tourism and hospitality industries, Schmidt said. He said Nevada’s accommodation and food service industry alone lost nearly 41% of its jobs compared with last April.

“Nevada now has the highest unemployment rate of any state, in any month, dating back to 1976 when consistent data became available," he told reporters during a teleconference.

Michigan has the second worst rate at 22.7%, followed by Hawaii at 22.3%.

Nevada’s unemployment rate was at an all-time-low of 3.6% in February. Casinos and other non-essential businesses have been closed since mid-March.

The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday that about 20,000 more Nevada residents filed first-time unemployment claims last week, pushing the number of jobless claims filed since mid-March to almost one-third of the entire workforce in the state in February.

In other pandemic developments

— A federal agency has awarded $89.9 million to Nevada to enhance COVID-19 testing and contact tracing. The Nevada Appeal reports that the grant awarded by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was announced by Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada. The lawmakers said the funding is important because the state needs “an expansive and efficient system for testing and contact tracing" as it moves toward reopening its economy.

— Las Vegas is temporarily closing some downtown streets to traffic to provide space for dining pavilions for use by customers who purchase takeout food from restaurants. The city will have staff on hand to clean and disinfect the tables and chairs between use, KVVU-TV reported.

— The Nevada Legislature has created a new panel of lawmakers to advise Gov. Steve Sisolak and review the state’s use of federal funding provided the state because of the pandemic. The Interim Finance Committee voted Thursday to form a 12-member subcommittee that will be chaired by Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, D-Las Vegas, the Appeal reported.

— Nevada health officials reported that the state had 7,401 cases of COVID-19 with 381 deaths as of Friday. For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.