Las Vegas NowState Unemployment Rate Reaches New Record

State Unemployment Rate Reaches New Record

For the third straight month, Nevada's unemployment rate has hit a record. Statewide, 12.5-percent of the working population is out of a job. And it's even worse in Las Vegas - 13.1-percent of workers are unemployed in the month of July 2009. Nearly twice as many Nevadans are unemployed compared to this time one year ago.

The employment trends have state economists very worried about the future. The governor's office says that more Nevadans will lose their job before this turns around.

It costs $35 million a week to pay for the unemployment benefits.

A glance inside the state JobConnect office at Desert Inn and Maryland Parkway shows the unemployment situation remaining critical. Delys Velazquez has been searching for a job for the past nine months. "It's hot, it's frustrating, a lot of people. The doors are closed. You apply and they never get back to you. You call and call and call. They are like, ‘Oh, well we have 100 and some for one position," she said.

She was laid off from her job in the travel industry and is now expanded her job search to any type of customer service. "I am bi-lingual -- Spanish. I speak fluent Spanish and English. Even that is not helping," she said.

Louis Berens found himself in the same boat. Out of work for nine months after being laid off from his construction job, he's looking for anything in a frustrating job search. "I will even wash some dishes or whatever, you know. I will do whatever it takes," he said.

Mae Worthey from the Nevada Department of Employment says stories like this will become more common. "The number of people receiving unemployment is simply off the charts," she said.

The number of people in Las Vegas who lost their jobs last month could fill the Orleans Arena and still have an additional 4,000 people waiting outside for a seat. Worthey says the majority of the job losses in Las Vegas come from one place. "People are still getting laid off in the casino industry. People are not visiting Las Vegas like they used too. They are not coming here. They are not spending money," she said.

The construction industry was also hit hard.

With all these Nevadans on unemployment, the state fund that pays it will run out of money in 10 weeks. The governor's office and state employment office met Thursday to set up a loan from the federal government when the money runs out.

In the fall, taxes on businesses for unemployment benefits will likely jump to help re-pay the loan and pay next years benefits.