A Stern Glance

Regional and state unemployment rates were little changed in April. Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia recorded unemployment rate decreases, five states posted rate increases, and eight states had no change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia registered unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier, while only one state experienced an increase and one had no change. The national jobless rate was little changed from March at 8.1 percent but was 0.9 percentage point lower than in April 2011.

In April 2012, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 32 states and the District of Columbia and decreased in 18 states. The largest over-the-month increase in employment occurred in Indiana (+17,100), followed by Texas (+13,200) and Georgia (+7,800). The largest over-the-month decrease in employment occurred in Maryland (-6,000), followed by Wisconsin (-5,900) and New Hampshire (-4,800). Hawaii experienced the largest over-the-month percentage increase in employment (+0.8 per-cent), followed by North Dakota (+0.7 percent) and Indiana (+0.6 percent). New Hampshire experienced the largest over-the-month percentage decline in employment (-0.8 percent), followed by Alaska (-0.7 percent) and Vermont (-0.5 percent). Over the year, nonfarm employment increased in 43 states and the District of Columbia and decreased in 7 states. The largest over-the-year percentage increase occurred in North Dakota (+7.2 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment occurred in Rhode Island (-0.9 percent). Read the rest of this entry »

In April, Nevada’s unemployment rate fell below 12 percent for the first time in nearly three years. The unemployment rate declined for the eighth consecutive month, with a fall from 12 percent in March to 11.7 percent in April. The jobless rate is down from a peak of 14 percent reached in October 2010, and the number of unemployed Nevadans has fallen from 193,600 to 158,600 over the period.

New job growth in Nevada is being driven by the private sector, which has added employment in every month since January 2011. So far this year, private sector job levels are trending about 13,800 higher than a year ago. That is on top of approximately 12,000 new jobs added in 2011.  Those improvements are being partially offset by declines in the public sector, which has lost 6,400 jobs since January 2011.

The unemployment rate in each of the state’s three metropolitan areas fell below 12 percent and reached levels not seen in nearly three years. In the Las Vegas region, the unemployment rate fell to 11.6 percent in April, down from 12.0 percent in March. The unemployment rate in the Reno-Sparks area fell by six-tenths to 11.4 percent in April. In the Capital region, the unemployment rate fell six-tenths to 11.8 percent in April, down from 12.4 percent in March. In the Elko micropolitan area (Elko and Eureka counties), the unemployment rate declined three-tenths to 6.3 percent. The rate is 5.2 percentage points lower than the statewide average and 1.4 points lower than the national average, 7.7 percent.

“Much has been made of late about the underlying reasons behind the downtrend in the unemployment rate,” said Bill Anderson, chief economist for the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR). “While job growth has been positive of late, contributing to the drop in the jobless rate, there are some structural forces at play, as well. Specifically, the labor force participation rate (LFPR) has been trending down both at the state and national level for many years.”

At the beginning of the recession, about 66 percent of the U.S. population was in the labor force (either employed or unemployed). As of April, the LFPR was just 63.6 percent, suggesting individuals (presumably without a job) are dropping out of the labor force and are not counted amongst the unemployed. In Nevada, the labor force participation rate has been trending down since the early 1980′s, after reaching a peak of 73.7 percent. The current LFPR stands at 64.9 percent, down from 67.8 since the start of the recession. While recent declines in the LFPR can be attributed to a poor job market, longer term trends point to changes in the structure of the economy and demographics of the population.

Seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment in Nevada fell by 600 from March to April. Private-sector employment grew by 200 in April, but government employment fell by 800. Over the last year, private sector employment increased by 10,500 jobs. However, these gains were offset by a decrease in government employment of 5,100. April’s lackluster jobs report comes on the heels of a strong report in March, which was revised up by 2,700 jobs, pushing that month’s gain from 5,000 to 7,700.

Results were mixed for Nevada’s major industry sectors. Mining employment rose by 100 in April and set a new series peak dating back to 1990. The trade, transportation and utilities sector added 2,900 jobs, with a strong showing from retail trade (+1,600), transportation/warehousing/utilities (+1,100); and an increase of 200 jobs in wholesale trade. Education and health services added 1,200 jobs in April — most of it coming from the health care and social assistance sub-sector which added 1,100 jobs. Even with the increase, the health care and social assistance employment level is still below the peak set in October 2011.

“On the down side, a number of industries shed employment in April. Construction (-900) continued to trend down, setting a new post-boom low,” Anderson said. “Employment in professional and business services was down by 2,000 in April. Within the sector, administrative, waste management and remediation services lost 2,100 jobs. Although employment in accommodation and food services fell by 1,400 in April, it has gained 7,800 jobs over the last year (a gain of 2.7 percent). Government employers cut employment by 800 jobs over-the-month. Federal government employment was unchanged, and state government employment decreased slightly (-200). Most of the losses occurred in local government (-600). Local government employment has steadily decreased, losing 4,200 jobs in the last year and is currently at levels not seen since October 2005.

Employment levels in two of Nevada’s metropolitan areas increased over-the-month, with Las Vegas adding 400 jobs and Reno adding 500. Carson City lost 200 jobs and employment is down 3.5 percent from a year ago. Reno employment is also down from a year ago, with 900 fewer jobs than in April of 2011 (a decrease of 0.5 percent). Las Vegas has added 4,600 jobs since April of 2011 for a year-over-year growth rate of 0.6 percent.

Along with a growing labor market, measures of wages paid to employees continue to trend positive. The 12 month average of hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by six cents, to $19.56. Average hourly earnings have increased by $0.70 since April 2011, an increase of 3.6 percent. Additionally, contribution reports from employers enrolled in Nevada’s unemployment insurance program show moderate growth in covered wages. After declining in both 2009 and 2010, average weekly wages have rebounded of late. Wages in 2011 were up 1.3 percent from a year ago ($829 vs. $818), despite some weakness in the fourth quarter.

Total personal income in Nevada has increased on an over-the-year basis for seven straight quarters, despite a fall in transfer payments. Transfer payments as a share of personal income rose markedly during the recession, driven by increases in unemployment insurance benefits, and peaked at 16.6 percent in the final quarter of 2010. Since then, the level of transfer payments as a part of personal income has trended down and currently stands at 15.6 percent of the total.

The Las Vegas Sun reported that, “A jump in repossession activity in April caused Nevada to reclaim its dubious No. 1 position as the state with the highest rate of foreclosures, data released Wednesday show.

“Foreclosure information collector RealtyTrac of Irvine, Calif., said that after just one month in the No. 2 spot trailing Arizona in March, Nevada moved to the top of the list in April in part because of a 15 percent increase in foreclosure starts compared to March.

“Before moving to No. 2 in March, Nevada had led the nation in foreclosures for 62 consecutive months with its overheated housing market hit especially hard by the recession.

“In April, Arizona moved to No. 4 on the national list while California — a big feeder market for Nevada’s casino industry — advanced to No. 2 with one in every 351 homes there receiving a foreclosure filing.” Click here for the full story in the Las Vegas Sun.

Employers in the private nonfarm sector initiated 1,077 mass layoff events in the first quarter of 2012 that resulted in the separation of 182,101 workers from their jobs for at least 31 days, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the year, total extended mass layoff events and associated worker separations were down from 1,490 and 225,456, respectively. Total events reached their lowest first quarter levels since 2006, while manufacturing sector events and separations declined to their lowest levels in program history (with data available back to 1995.) First quarter 2012 layoff data are preliminary and are subject to revision.

Industry Distribution of Extended Layoffs

Over the year ending in the first quarter of 2012, the number of private nonfarm extended mass layoff events declined in 16 of the 18 major industry sectors. The manufacturing and the construction sectors experienced the largest declines in the numbers of worker separations over the year. Fourteen of the 21 manufacturing subsectors experienced over-the-year decreases in the number of layoff events.

Events and separations in the manufacturing sector declined to their lowest levels in program history (210 and 28,393, respectively). Thirty-six percent of manufacturing employers with an extended mass layoff event in the first quarter of 2012 anticipated recalling at least some of the displaced workers. The construction sector had 225 extended mass layoff events and 26,795 separations, primarily due to contract completion. This sector accounted for 21 percent of the layoff events and 15 percent of the related separations during the first quarter of 2012.

Reasons for Extended Layoffs

Business demand factors, primarily contract completion, accounted for 39 percent of the events and 44 percent of related separations in the private nonfarm sector during the first quarter of 2012. Layoffs due to the completion of seasonal work accounted for 28 percent of extended mass layoff events and 24 percent of related separations during the quarter.

Movement of Work

In the first quarter of 2012, 29 extended mass layoffs involved movement of work and were associated with 3,726 worker separations, a program low for both figures. Sixty-two percent of the events related to movement of work were from manufacturing industries. Employers cited organizational changes as the economic reason for layoff in 52 percent of the events involving movement of work. Among workers affected by the movement of work, the largest proportions were in the West.

The 29 events with movement of work for the first quarter involved 41 identifiable relocations of work actions. Employers were able to provide information on the specific number of worker separations for 33 of these actions. Among these actions, most were domestic reassignments and involved work moving within the same company.

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Building permits in April 2012 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 715,000, down 7.0 percent from the revised March rate but up 23.7 percent from April 2011. Housing starts in April 2012 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 717,000, up 2.6 percent from March’s revised estimate and up 29.9 percent from April 2011.

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 715,000. This is 7.0 percent below the revised March rate of 769,000, but is 23.7 percent above the revised April 2011 estimate of 578,000.

Single-family authorizations in April were at a rate of 475,000; this is 1.9 percent above the revised March figure of 466,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 217,000 in April.

Privately-owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 717,000. This is 2.6 percent above the revised March estimate of 699,000 and is 29.9 percent above the revised April 2011 rate of 552,000.

Privately-owned housing completions in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 651,000. This is 10.0 percent above the revised March estimate of 592,000 and is 20.1 percent above the revised April 2011 rate of 542,000.

Single-family housing completions in April were at a rate of 489,000; this is 11.4 percent above the revised March figure of 439,000. The April rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 158,000.

Stern And Company
Public Relations
www.sdsternpr.com
info @ sdsternpr.com
702-240-9533