Las Vegas Economic Snapshot — First in a series

I'd like to hear anecdotes from readers on how they think the local economy is going. Maybe you've been to a restaurant, a casino, a store, a movie, a car lot and experienced something that indicates to you the economy is either picking up or slowing down.

For example, I took the last Southwest flight out of Austin, Texas, to Las Vegas Wednesday night. It was 75% empty.

That can't be good, although it was the first time I had taken that flight, so I must be open to the possibility that it is a lightly traveled leg in the Southwest schedule. Generally, however, the Southwest flights I take in and out of Las Vegas are packed cheek-to-cheek.

In December I took a flight from Las Vegas to Houston to New York City. The Houston to New York City leg was light. But the Houston to Las Vegas leg was racked and stacked.

What economic snapshots do you have to share?