April 16, 2010

 Washington, DC – Nevada Senator Harry Reid today made the following statement on the news that Nevada’s unemployment rate in March increased from 13.2 to 13.4 percent.

“Today’s news is disappointing for the Nevadans who are struggling to find work and for those of us working tirelessly to create jobs and help them make ends meet.  Fortunately, we were able to defeat an equally disappointing Republican filibuster last night and extend unemployment insurance and Cobra benefits.

“A decline in construction jobs has played a key role in the rise in unemployment in Nevada.  That is why I have been working so hard to put Nevadans back to work on one of the many clean energy projects that have either been announced or are underway right now. Construction of a transmission line between northern and southern Nevada was announced earlier this year and will put hundreds of Nevadans to work. A thousand more should soon be back on the job building A-Power’s new wind turbine production plant. And Nevadans are working hard right now building a large new solar electric facility in the Eldorado Valley.

“We are also taking steps to boost tourism in Nevada.  Last month, President Obama signed into law the Travel Promotion Act.  This law gives us the ability to bring more people into the U.S. to visit great tourist destinations like Las Vegas, Reno and Lake Tahoe.  And the announcement that next year’s Global Travel Summit will be held in Las Vegas is also good news for our state.  There is a lot happening for Nevada and more that we need to do, but by working together we can weather this storm.”