Nevada Economist: High State Unemployment Not a Bad Thing

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In what sounds almost like a Yogi-ism (it’s so crowded nobody goes there anymore), the Nevada state economist says that the state’s relatively high unemployment rate is actually a good thing, meaning, it's high for a good reason. Nevada’s unemployment rate was 5.3% as of April 2026, one percentage point higher than the US average, but David Schmidt, chief economist at the Nevada Department of Employment, Training, & Rehabilitation, attributes this to domestic immigration rather than a poor state employment market. His point is well taken, as Nevada’s labor force increased by over 37,000 y/y in April (SA), while its unemployed count increased by only about 1,800 over that period, according to the USBLS. Further, Nevada was the only state to see a y/y gain in employment in April. Schmidt also notes that the state’s 63.6% labor participation rate is notably higher than the US rate of 61.8%.



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