From December 2024 to March 2025, Nevada’s private sector experienced a net loss of 6,561 jobs, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Gross job losses from closing and contracting establishments totaled 81,055 during this period, while gross job gains from opening and expanding establishments reached 74,494.
Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund stated that “the difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment loss of 6,561 jobs in the private sector during the first quarter of 2025.” In contrast, the previous quarter saw net employment growth as gross job gains exceeded losses by 6,451.
Business Employment Dynamics (BED) statistics provide insights into these changes by tracking employment shifts at private-sector businesses from one quarter to the next. The figures reflect both expansions and contractions at existing firms as well as openings and closures.
In Nevada’s first quarter of 2025, gross job losses represented 5.9 percent of private-sector employment—higher than the national figure of 5.4 percent. Contracting establishments in Nevada accounted for a loss of 67,050 jobs, up by nearly two thousand compared to the previous quarter. Job losses due to business closures rose by over one thousand to reach 14,005.
Gross job gains for Nevada’s private sector made up 5.4 percent of total employment in early 2025; nationally this share was slightly higher at 5.6 percent. Expanding businesses contributed most to these gains with a total increase of just over sixty thousand positions—a decline compared to last quarter—while new openings added nearly fourteen thousand jobs but also saw a drop relative to prior months.
Most industry sectors reported more losses than gains in this period. Professional and business services experienced the largest net decrease with a loss of over six thousand jobs; leisure and hospitality as well as transportation and warehousing also reported significant declines. However, education and health services posted a net gain exceeding eighteen hundred positions—the highest among all sectors—followed closely by retail trade.
The BED data are part of a federal-state cooperative program known as Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), compiled from existing records maintained by BLS.
The next release covering second-quarter data is scheduled for February 26, 2026.
