Brief: business index

The Nevada State Bank Small Business Index for Nevada rose to 98.0 during October 1999, as compared to a revised 97.6 for September 1999.

The index measures business conditions from the viewpoint of the Nevada small business owner or manager.

A higher index number is associated with more favorable business "conditions" for Nevada's small businesses. The index uses 100 for calendar year 1997 as its base year.

The most heavily weighted component of the index - the Nevada unemployment rate - was 4.2 percent in the most recent month, unchanged from the prior month's rate but higher than the 3.8 percent rate of two months ago. The 4.2 percent unemployment rate also exceeds the 3.9 percent rate recorded one year ago. Nevada's unemployment rate reached a low of 3.3 percent in January of this year. The average Nevada unemployment rate was 5.6 percent during the 1990-98 period.