LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Las Vegas added about 2,700 jobs in April and the state’s unemployment rate dropped slightly to 5.6%, according to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR).
The April jobs report released by DETR on Thursday shows Nevada’s worst-in-the-nation unemployment rate came down from 5.7%, and the state’s labor force grew by 4,041 workers.
Recent reports indicate Washington, D.C., has begun to see more unemployment claims coming in related to cuts in the federal government, and that could eventually knock Nevada off the top. Nevada has fewer than 23,000 federal workers, mostly within the Veterans Administration, the U.S. Postal Service and the Department of Defense, according to DETR.
The total number of nonfarm jobs was 1,580,600, an increase of 0.7% over the past year, and 5,100 jobs above March 2025 levels.
“This month’s report again shows a slight improvement from last month,” according to David Schmidt, chief economist for DETR. “The state’s labor force participation rate rose to 62.9 percent, a level slightly higher than the national average, and hourly wage gains accelerated, rising by 6.2 percent. While these improvements are not large, they continue to point to improving labor market conditions in April.”
Jobs in Reno were up by 800, and Carson City saw an increase of 200.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the largest gains in Nevada came in the leisure and hospitality sector (3,200), professional and business services (1,900), and education and health services (1,000) with increases of 3,200, 1,900, and 1,000, respectively.
About 300,000 people in the Las Vegas metro area work in leisure and hospitality, the report showed.
The report showed a decline in construction jobs, which dropped by about 1,400.
To file an unemployment insurance claim, go to https://ui.nv.gov/.
