recession

Unemployment insurance claims in Nevada fell slightly in June, the state's Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reports Thursday.

last month, 14,503 initial claims for unemployment insurance were filed in Nevada, down just 3 percent compared to June 2013. Initial claims have fallen compared to the previous year for 19 straight months and in 52 of the past 55 months.

The decline in initial claims was the smallest since May 2013, when initial claims fell by just under 1 percent, said Bill Anderson, DETR's chief economist.

Carson City's 8 percent unemployment rate for May didn't budge from its dramatic 2.5 percent drop in April, but it still managed to add 200 more jobs to the payroll, according to figures released Friday by Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.

Initial May unemployment claims filed in Nevada fell to 12,524, a 23 percent drop compared to May 2013, the Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reports Thursday.

Initial claims have fallen compared to the previous year for 18 straight months and in 51 of the past 54 months, said Bill Anderson, chief economist for the state's unemployment division.

Gardnerville freelance writer and former Nevada Press Association Journalist of Merit Scott Neuffer will be hosting two public signings for his first full-length book, a collection of short fictional stories entitled “Scars of the New Order.”

Neuffer will be signing books 6:30-8 p.m. June 4 at Sundance Books and Music at 121 California Ave. in Reno. He’ll also be hosting a book reading and signing 6 p.m. June 6 at Shelby’s Book Shoppe at 1663 Lucerne St. Suite C in the Minden Village.

Gardnerville freelance writer and former Nevada Press Association Journalist of Merit Scott Neuffer will be hosting two public signings for his first full-length book, a collection of short fictional stories entitled Scars of the New Order.

Neuffer will be signing books 6:30-8 p.m. June 4 at Sundance Books and Music at 121 California Ave. in Reno. He’ll also be hosting a book reading and signing 6 p.m. June 6 at Shelby’s Book Shoppe at 1663 Lucerne St. Suite C in the Minden Village.

Jobless claims in Nevada continue to fall, with 14,931 people filing for unemployment insurance in April, a 15 percent decrease compared to 2013 figures, according to numbers released Thursday by the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.

Initial claims have fallen compared to the previous year for 17 straight months and in 50 of the past 53 months, said Bill Anderson, chief economist for Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.

I had an opportunity to interview Democratic candidate for Governor of Nevada, John P. Rutledge. He has been a supporter of the Downtown 20/20 organization, and has long been devoted to seeing our great and beautiful city grow and prosper.

Mr. Rutledge is a real estate and business Lawyer at Rutledge Law Center, which is headquartered in Carson City, and is active around our state.

I first asked him what he wanted people to know about him and his campaign, and here is what he had to say.

March unemployment was down slightly in Carson City and Lyon County, but inched upward in Douglas, according to figures released Monday from the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.

Unemployment dropped to 9.8 in Carson City, down from 9.9 percent in February and 10.3 percent in January. In Lyon County the March unemployment rate was 12.6 percent, down from February's 12.7 percent and January's 13.1 percent.

A few years ago, some experts predicted the world was about to reach a peak in global oil and gas production to be followed soon by marked decline. It would cause “war, famine, pestilence and death” – the biblical Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Another version: “war, starvation, economic recession, possibly even the extinction of homo sapiens.”

You could say Perry and Starr Nixdorf were jumping into the deep end of the pool when they decided to create Paradise Salon-Spa-Wellness, which celebrates its grand opening March 27-29.

It’s not just that they bought a building that is seven times larger than the previous salon space they rented on Winnie Lane. Or that they went from a staff of four to 19 independent contractors. Or that they expanded from doing hair and body piercing to just about every salon/spa service you could ask for.

Nevada’s unemployment rate fell in January to 8.7 percent. January also marked the 37th month of year-over-year job growth, according to figures released Monday by Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.

The unadjusted jobless rates in Carson City climbed to 10.3 percent, compared to 9.2 percent in December. The Reno/Sparks unadjusted unemployment rate was 9.1 percent in January 2014, which compares with 8.2 percent in December.

Carson City native John "Jed" Block entered the race Friday to become the Republican candidate for Assembly District 40 saying that he feels well-qualified to represent the district because of his extensive familiarity with the needs of citizens.

Average weekly wages in Nevada measured $829 the second quarter of 2013, the highest reading for the three-month period on record. Nevadans are earning 1.8 percent more than this time last year, said Bill Anderson, chief economist for Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.

With ongoing requests for children's Christmas gifts still being taken, the Toys For Tots program in Carson City was presented with generous gifts of cash and children's toys on behalf of the Capitol Police division of the Nevada Department of Public Safety and the Nevada State Law Enforcement Officers' Association.

RENO, Nev. – The University of Nevada School of Medicine and the High Sierra Area Health Education Center announce the release of Health Care Careers in Nevada 2014-2015.

This updated edition of the manual contains a wide range of current information on more than 80 health care occupations in Nevada, including an overview of job requirements, Nevada employment outlook and average salary data in Nevada for each occupation. The guide also provides a detailed inventory of educational certificate and degree programs in Nevada for each type of health care job.

If you bought rental real estate years ago before the Great Recession and it has gone down in value, you might have a big gain if you sell it. That is especially true if it is rental real estate and you have claimed depreciation expense for many years.

The way to postpone the gain might be to trade it for other investment real estate of equal or greater value. Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code allows you to trade for “like kind” property without paying tax on the gain unless you get cash out and/or have more mortgage given up than mortgage assumed on the new property.

Among all the closed businesses and empty buildings around Carson there are a few places that are finally starting to bloom both figuratively and literally. North Carson was doubly hard hit by the recession and the freeway bypass that diverts traffic around the north end of town. There are dozens of vacant business properties on the North end of our city. So any improvement should be a welcome change in our cities fortunes or rather misfortune of the last five years.

With news this week that Western Nevada College is the recipient of a $1.5 million grant, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, announced two other grants for area colleges, Truckee Meadows Community College and Great Basin College.

The grants are part of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grant Program, which was authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the stimulus bill. WNC's portion of the grant is $1,567,530. TMCC received a grant of $ 3,201,968 and Great Basin College, $4,009,331.

CARSON CITY — Western Nevada College students will have more opportunities to prepare for skilled technical jobs in the coming years, following Wednesday's announcement of a $1,567,530 grant workforce training grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. It is part of $474.5 million in grants to community colleges and universities around the country for the development and expansion of innovative training programs.

Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong will run for a fourth term as the capital city's top law enforcement officer, announcing his 2014 re-election intentions Tuesday.

In what Furlong described as three "politically quiet but challenging years," crime statistics have trended downward since the 2010 election, which is remarkable given Carson City's economic climate as it continues to deal with the effects of a deep, prolonged recession.

Carson City department heads responded to questions from locals Monday in a town hall meeting. While the public was given plenty of opportunity and notice to attend and encouraged to speak, three actually came to the podium, including two Carson High School students and the chair of the Carson Animal Services Initiative.

CARSON CITY — The Nevada Rural Housing Authority team was presented with the 2013 Pioneer in Housing Award (Large Agency) from Nan McKay & Associates at the 2013 NMA Housing Conference, held in San Diego earlier this month.

According to NMA the judges were greatly impressed by the Nevada Rural Housing Authority’s home financing program to expand homeownership opportunities in the rural parts of the state.

With a sneak peak at an exhibit honoring Western explorer John C. Fremont, the Nevada State Museum in Carson City will celebrate free admission day from 8:30 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, July 20.

The May unemployment rate in Carson City fell from 10.1 percent to 9.5 percent, marking the lowest number of unemployed in the capital city since 2008.

Statewide, unemployment rate fell from 9.6 percent to 9.5 percent, seasonally adjusted, with 131,400 people looking for work, marking the 29th straight month of private-sector job creation on a year-over-year basis and the lowest number of unemployed since the worst of the recession hit the Silver State beginning in 2008.

The U.S. casino industry captured $37.3 billion in gaming revenues in 2012, a 4.8 percent increase from 2011.

That growth rate is largest since the recession swept through the industry in 2008, according to an annual report released today by the American Gaming Association.

The Nevada Legislature received positive forecasts on the state’s employment opportunities during Wednesday’s Economic Forum in the capitol.

Nevada’s unemployment numbers are still the highest in the nation, but according to Bill Anderson, Chief Economist at the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, the number of unemployed Nevadans will likely continue to drop between now and 2015.

Nevada’s unemployment rate fell to seasonally adjusted 9.7 percent in January, which is the 18th straight month the state has seen a decline in the number of people unemployed. Now below Rhode Island, the Silver State is no longer considered the state with the highest unemployment rate in the country, a position it had held since February 2010.

The unemployment rate in Carson City is down 1.8 percentage points since last year and stood at 11.2 percent in January 2013.

Nevada son and United States Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid addressed a joint session of the Nevada State Legislature today in Carson City. Here is the text of his speech:

The 2012 education PISA* rankings indicate that the USA came in at 25th for math, 14th for reading and 17th for science out of 30 countries with only three of those countries spending slightly more money per pupil than America. Yet the mantra for more money, benefits and taxes for education continue just as it has for the last sixty years. If more money will solve the education problem then why hasn't it ever worked in the last sixty years?

LAS VEGAS – The Private Bank by Nevada State Bank released the fourth of its High Net Worth briefings today. The research prepared by local market research firm Applied Analysis was specific to changes in the income and investment portfolios of Nevada’s higher income households during the past several years. The report suggests that Nevada’s higher income households were overly exposed to real estate investment risk prior to the recession and have rapidly shifted assets into low-yield bonds, transaction accounts and certificates of deposit.