Unemployment in Nevada in August rose to a record high of 13.2 percent, or 183,000 jobless, in August from July when it was 12.5 percent. In Las Vegas, unemployment spiked to 13.4 percent from 13.1 percent.

Unemployment in Nevada is the second highest in the nation, behind Michigan a 15.2 percent and ahead Rhode Island, 12.8 percent and Caifornia and Oregon, 12.2 percent; all records.

Since the recession began about two years ago, joblessness in the state has close to tripled from the 5.2 percent posted in December 2007.

Nationally, August unemployment was 9.7 percent.

This morning, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner hosted Attorney General Eric Holder, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Jon Leibowitz, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Director Jim Freis and attorneys general from 12 states to discuss emerging trends and proactive strategies to combat fraud against consumers in the housing markets as well as best practices to bolster coordination across state and federal agencies. This meeting follows up on an announcement by the Obama Administration in April of a multi-agency crackdown on foreclosure rescue scams and loan modification fraud designed to protect homeowners from predatory financial practices.

“A clear lesson of this financial crisis is that American consumers need better protection against fraud,” said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. “And while we will prosecute anyone who violated the law, going forward we will not wait for problems to peak before we respond. The Obama Administration is acting preemptively, across federal agencies and alongside state governments, to stop consumer fraud.”

Treasury, FinCEN, and DOJ, HUD, and FTC have committed to taking proactive measures to curb abuse by coordinating information and resources across agencies to maximize targeting and efficiency in fraud investigations. This includes alerting financial institutions to emerging schemes, stepping up enforcement actions and educating consumers to help those in financial trouble avoid becoming the victims of a loan modification or foreclosure rescue scam. Read the rest of this entry »

New U.S. housing starts and permits rose in August to their highest level in nine months and the number of people filing of unemployment benefits fell last week, evidence a solid economic recovery was underway.

The Commerce Department reported today Thursday housing starts rose 1.5 percent from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 598,000 units.

In another report, the Labor Department said the number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell by 12,000 last week to 545,000, the lowest level since early July.

Groundbreaking for single-family homes, fell 3 percent in August to an annual rate of 479,000 units, after five straight monthly increases. Starts for the volatile multifamily segment jumped 25.3 percent to a 119,000 annual pace, reversing the previous month’s slump. Read the rest of this entry »

Business inventories in July 2009 declined 1.0% from the prior month and decreased 11.8% from the prior year, to $1,332.5 billion.  Sales rose 0.1% from June but declined 17.8% from July 2008, to $978.4 billion.