More than 20,000 people left the Las Vegas-area workforce in April, pushing the unemployment rate down to 5.1% even as employment fell by nearly 16,000.
The rate improved from 5.4% in March and from 5.4% a year earlier because workers who exited the labor force were removed from both the employed and unemployed counts.
Nevada labor officials said the monthly local estimates are volatile and subject to revision, underscoring that the drop did not reflect broad job growth.
The Las Vegas pattern contrasted with a steadier statewide picture, suggesting the metro area's labor-market weakness was masked by a smaller pool of workers.
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