The Reno-Sparks economy is ‘surprisingly good’ to start 2021 despite the immense challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. This according to top economic leaders in their annual update. the northern Nevada region weathered the economic storm of 2020 quite well compared to many other areas, in part because of efforts to diversify the economy over the last decade. They pointed to the unemployment rate, which is relatively low compared to other communities and lower than the national average. About 5.4% of people in the Reno-Sparks area are currently unemployed, compared to 6.7% nationally and 11.5% in Las Vegas.