LAS VEGAS, Nevada - September 20, 2010 - Neither a boost in private-sector hiring nor a shrinking labor force could rescue Nevada from yet another unemployment record in August.

The construction sector, restaurants and professional firms all added jobs in the month, but declines in Census jobs and other public-sector cuts offset that hiring to push statewide unemployment to an all-time high of 14.4%, the state Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation said this morning. That's up from 14.3% in July and 12.5% in August 2009.

Thanks to seasonal hiring among resorts and other employers, joblessness in Clark County edged down to 14.7%, from a record 14.8% in August. Unemployment in Las Vegas came in at 13% in the same month a year ago.

Nevada has claimed the highest jobless rate in the nation since it bumped Michigan out of the top spot in May. Nationally, official unemployment was 9.6% in August.