State taxable sales rise 7.1 percent; Clark County up 5.2 percent

The state Department of Taxation reported Tuesday that sales of tangible goods among Nevada’s merchants increased to $3.64 billion, up 7.1 percent from $3.39 billion in November 2011. Sales in Clark County rose to $2.6 billion, a 5.2 percent jump over $2.47 billion a year earlier, driven mostly by consumer spending on big-ticket items such as cars.

The improvements were in line with recent trends: Taxable sales have grown for 2 1/2 years straight, with year-to-year increases in the 5 percent to 10 percent range. What’s different, though, is how close the numbers are getting to levels before the downturn.

State sales were just 5.5 percent below their November peak of $3.85 billion in 2006. Local figures were off 8.8 percent compared with their high for the month of $2.85 billion, set in 2007. As recently as fall, taxable sales were running 15 percent below their records. What’s more, November’s improvement came amid a hotly contested national election focused on continued torpor in the economy, as well as the start of discussions on the fiscal cliff, with its potential for steep federal spending cuts and tax increases.

In Nevada, at least, consumers were undeterred, thanks in part to a stabilizing housing market and a sustained drop in unemployment, said Brian Gordon, a principal in local economic research firm Applied Analysis.

“Consumers are likely starting to feel better about their personal financial situation, and fatigue from the economic downturn is taking hold,” Gordon said. “They’re starting to return to what we would classify as more normalized spending patterns.”

Those spending patterns also reveal construction’s long, slow fade-out as a big driver of the local economy.

Sure, construction-related sales jumped 52.3 percent statewide, to nearly $90 million. But that spike came mostly from a $23.4 million jump in the specialty-trade sector in Nye County. (For privacy reasons, the Taxation Department doesn’t disclose companies or projects behind big sales changes.)

Construction sales in Clark County were considerably slower, growing 4.6 percent. Worse still, construction’s share of countywide spending was 1.5 percent, down from 5.8 percent in November 2008, when CityCenter and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas were under construction. In some months in 2008, construction-based sales consumed as much as 8.5 percent of local spending.

Now, consumer spending is ascendant. Sales among dealers of cars and car parts, which made up 10 percent of the county’s total, were up 16.3 percent in November, to $260 million. Retailers of clothing and accessories, which were 11.6 percent of all sales, saw a 5.5 percent gain, to $301.7 million. Sales also rose 2.4 percent inside bars and restaurants, the biggest spending category at 24.8 percent of the total. Other consumer-centric categories that posted improvements were furniture stores and retailers of electronics and appliances.

Gross revenue collections on taxable sales, which help fund prisons and schools, totaled $284.63 million, up nearly 7 percent compared with November 2011. The General Fund portion of sales and use taxes was 1.7 percent, or $6.2 million, below forecasts that help set the state’s budget.

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512. Follow @J_Robison1 on Twitter.