All-time high job numbers, employers unable to fill vacancies and workers quitting to seek higher wages have been headlining economic news. Despite persistent inflation and raising interest rates, the post-pandemic job market seemed as strong as ever as 2022 came to a close.
Nationally, job growth reached an all-time high of 155.3 million in December 2022, adding 4.6 million jobs over the year. The number of jobs added in 2022 was the second-highest annual total behind only the pandemic bounce back year of 2021. The national unemployment rate has reflected the job boom. After a 4.0 percent unemployment rate in January 2022, every other month remained below 4.0 percent, dipping as low as 3.5 percent in July and September. Job openings also remained high through 2022, extending the post-pandemic trend of that began in mid-2021. Monthly job openings averaged 11.0 million in 2022, significantly higher than the 7.2 million monthly average in 2019.
The metrics in Southern Nevada tell a similar story. Employment in the Las Vegas metro area hit an all-time high in November 2022 at 1.09 million before settling at 1.08 million to end the year. Employment numbers rose steadily through the year, eclipsing the pre-pandemic employment peak in September and closing 2022 with 43,300 more jobs than a year earlier, a 4.2 percent annual increase. According to the Hiring Lab by job-posting service Indeed, workers remained in high demand in Southern Nevada. Job openings have fallen slightly from recent peaks yet remained about 70 percent higher than at the start of 2020. Despite strong job growth and employer demand, the regional unemployment rate remained above 5.0 percent all year. The year ended with a 5.4 percent unemployment rate, once again the highest among the 51 largest metropolitan areas in the nation and well above the 2019 rates that hovered around 4.0 percent.
Most of Southern Nevada’s major employment sectors expanded in 2022, adding thousands of new jobs over the year. The region’s largest industry, leisure and hospitality, added 16,000 jobs in 2022, a 6.0 percent annual growth rate. However, unlike most other industries, employment numbers in the tourism sector still trailed December 2019 by 3.3 percent. The next three largest sectors all hit employment highs in the final months of 2022. Trade, transportation, and utilities employment, which includes warehousing and retail sectors, grew by 2.4 percent to add 5,000 jobs on the year and reach an all-time employment high. Professional and business services had 1,100 more jobs in December 2022 than the year before, a 0.7 percent increase year over year, and education and health services employment reached 115,700 in December 2022, a 3,600 increase representing a 3.2 percent annual growth rate.
The construction industry recorded one of its best employment years in more than a decade. The number of construction jobs increased every month in 2022, topping out in December 2022 at 77,800, the highest since December 2008 and a 16.3 percent increase over the year. The 10,900 jobs added in 2022 were the most since 2005. The construction hiring boom was a product of major projects continuing and new ones kicking up, homebuilding activity and commercial construction for a growing community. Meanwhile, manufacturing employment hit an annual high of 29,300 in December 2022, growing by 10.2 percent over the year to add 2,700 jobs.
In a time of high inflation, rising interest rates and potential economic headwinds, recent employment numbers in Southern Nevada and across the nation reflect a strong start to the new year.
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Photo: Courtesy of city of Las Vegas: International Innovation Center @ Vegas