Struggling to find a job? Try looking in Nevada

A sparsely-populated state known for its world-class casinos and dry desert climate has been a bright spot in the tepid U.S. job market.

Nevada's workforce grew 1.9% from April 2025 to 2026, the highest of any state, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nationally, that rate inched up just 0.2% over the same period.

About 12% of new jobs in the U.S. were created in Nevada during those 12 months, data shows. That's an outsized gain for the Silver State, which houses only about 1% of the national population.

Economic leaders in Nevada say their success is the culmination of years of work to diversify business activity beyond gambling and entertainment. Home to 3.3 million residents, Nevada has long benefited from its proximity to California and is increasingly becoming a hub for artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Economically, Nevada is "a relatively small state being mentioned in the same breath as California, Texas, Florida," said David Schmidt, chief economist in the state's Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. The jobs market, in particular, is putting up "really remarkable numbers that we're seeing."

In the past year, Nevada saw the most growth in professional and business services roles, which Schmidt attributed to favorable state tax policies. Education and health services positions were also a top contributor, part of the national trend of health care driving job gains.

Companies have long sought out Nevada for new or expanded mines, these days driven by bountiful supplies of lithium, a key component in batteries used to help run AI models, Schmidt said. And Nevada's 110,000-square miles offers large swaths of open land attractive for building AI-related infrastructure such as data centers, the economist said.

One of the few signs of contraction in the Nevada labor economy came in government jobs, which fell over the past year, holding back what would have been an even stronger expansion. Even there, however, Schmidt said Nevada was less affected than other states by President Trump's effort to curb government hiring, due to its small number of federal workers.

At first glance, Nevada's labor market strength is surprising given softness in the state's iconic gambling industry. The Las Vegas Strip's largest casinos collectively saw revenues decline nearly 4% between the fiscal 2024 and 2025 years, according to data from the Nevada Gaming Control Board released this month.

But the economy of the Las Vegas metro area — home to the lion's share of the state's population — has grown increasingly less reliant on gaming. An analysis of federal data found that about 60% of new jobs in the region from 2016 to 2025 came in industries outside of hospitality, construction and government, the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance told CNBC.

"Looking at the data, the thing that stands out the most is how widespread the growth is," Schmidt said.

Nevada is bucking what economists have described as a national "jobless boom," and a "low hire, low fire" employment market. Now, the national labor market may be thawing, however: Nonfarm payroll growth was more than double what Wall Street forecast in May. The BLS is slated to release the most recent breakdown of state-by-state employment next week.