Southern Nevada economy flashes more signs of recovery

Southern Nevada’s economic recovery is slow and sometimes uneven, according to a report published Friday by the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

The report found improvement in January in areas such as construction and employment, while tourism, gaming and taxable sales figures were mixed.

“We are seeing growing employment on a monthly basis at this time,” said Ryan Kennelly, a CBER economic analyst at UNLV’s Lee School of Business. “We expect that growth to continue for the next four to six months.”

Among the findings were the following:

■ The center’s Southern Nevada Economic Indicators Coincident Index, which tracks nonfarm and household employment trends, showed modest improvement in employment, gaining 2.87 percent in January over the same month in 2012.

■ The Clark County Construction Index jumped 9.35 percent from December to January, driven by increased residential and commercial building permits. The sector saw employment gains of 7.35 percent in the same period. The construction index was up 7.24 percent year-over-year.

“We had a really strong month in January,” Kennelly said. “It was the first time in about six months that construction was positive year-over-year.”

He said building permits also increased for the month but “remain volatile at a low level.”

■ The center’s Southern Nevada Index of Leading Indicators was up 2.57 percent compared with January 2012, as the economies in Arizona and California improved and the Standard & Poors index rose 13.5 percent year-over-year. But passenger traffic at McCarran International Airport dropped 1.67 percent from January 2012 and decreased 0.33 percent from December 2012 to January 2013.

■ The Clark County Business Activity Index, which gauges the county’s taxable sales, employment and gaming revenue, declined 0.48 percent from December to January because of a 0.03 percent decline in taxable sales. Despite the slight monthly drop, business activity was up 1.8 percent year-over-year in January 2013.

Seasonally adjusted gaming revenues were off 4.96 percent, and nonfarm employment fell 0.11 percent in January.

Kennelly said the monthly numbers have been mixed, but the year-over-year numbers were positive for all of 2012 and point to an “overall recovery.”

■ The center’s Clark County Tourism Index dropped 2.51 percent from December to January and 3.55 percent year-over-year. Much of the decline was attributed to seasonally adjusted gaming revenues and Las Vegas hotel occupancy, which fell by 4.96 percent and 3.02 percent, respectively.

Contact reporter Chris Sieroty at csieroty@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @sierotyfeatures on Twitter.