Nevada unemployment claims down 24 percent from previous week

The Las Vegas Strip is deserted as casinos and other business are closed because of the coronavirus outbreak, Tuesday, April 14, 2020, in Las Vegas.
AP Photo/John Locher

(Derek Draplin) – Initial unemployment claims in Nevada are down 24 percent from the prior week as the fallout continues from efforts to control the coronavirus outbreak.

Over the course of the past four weeks, more than 303,700 Nevadans have filed for unemployment.

The U.S. Department of Labor released numbers Thursday morning detailing unemployment for each state for the week ending April 11. Nevada residents filed 60,180 initial claims that week, down 24 percent from the previous week’s 79,285 claims.

Nationally, 5.24 million people filed initial unemployment claims for the week that ended April 11, bringing the four week total to 22 million claims filed.

“The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 8.2 percent for the week ending April 4, an increase of 3.1 percentage points from the previous week’s unrevised rate,” the release from the Department of Labor stated. “This marks the highest level of the seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate in the history of the seasonally adjusted series. The previous high was 7.0 percent in May of 1975.”

Nevada has 3,321 coronavirus cases and 137 deaths as of Thursday morning.

Gov. Steve Sisolak last week asked state agencies to make recommendations for cuts to their budgets.

“With the near total shutdown of businesses during the COVID-19 response, including the gaming industry that makes up the lifeblood of our State’s economy, it is inevitable that this unexpected drop in revenue will force the State of Nevada to make tough budget choices in order to continue protecting the health and safety of our citizens,” Sisolak said.

By

Derek Draplin | The Center Square