Nevada Taxable Sales Leap 11.2% in December

Taxable sales leaped in Nevada by 11.2% in December YOY! Taxation Deputy Executive Director Brody Leiser says that a large portion of the increase can be attributed to the Ruby Pipeline project which is being developed and passes through Washoe, Humboldt, and Elko counties. (See map here)

According to the official Ruby Pipeline web-site, "The project represents an approximate $3 billion dollar investment in new pipeline infrastructure that will connect clean-burning and competitively priced natural gas reserves in the Rocky Mountain region with growing markets in the western United States".

Clark County taxable sales increased by $28.9 million in December from the year before representing a 2.8% YOY increase.

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McCarran Airport Traffic Climbs Higher!

McCarran Airport passenger traffic climbed in January by 5% from the previous year. Southwest Airlines, McCarran's largest airliner, carried 1,276,960 passengers in January--up 5.6% from the previous year!

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Las Vegas Home Prices

Las Vegas home prices, according to Case Shiller Index, continue to lag behind the U.S. Since January 2000, the U.S. home prices are up 42.7% while Nevada home prices are down .47%!

Nevada Sports Books Super Bowl Wagers

Some of Nevada's sports books operators were predicting $100 million to be bet on last Sunday's Super Bowl.  Bettors wagered only $87.5 million on the Super Bowl, an increase of $4.8 million from 2010, but $7 million lower than 2006's $94.5 million, when the Pittsburg Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks. 

If office pools and other illegal wagers were counted, maybe the betting handle was over $100 million!

Nevada Sports Books Super Bowl Win/Loss

Nevada sports books eked out a .83% win on last Sunday's Super Bowl between the Green Bay Packer and the Pittsburg Steelers.  Sports books posted a win of a meager $724,176, as compared to last year's win of $6.85 million.  The Packers were a 2 1/2 point favorite. 

The sports books have a good track record, winning in 15 of the past 16 years.  The only loss was in 2008, when the New York Giants upset the New England Patriots. 

Nevada vs USA GDP

Nevada's economy dramatically outpaced the U.S. economy during the past 20 years, particularly from 2003 to 2007, until the real estate bubble burst in the Silver State. We expect Nevada's economic growth to be lower than the national economy, as the state continues to lead the nation in unemployment and foreclosures.

Nevada's Taxable Sales are Up Again

The good news is taxable sales in Nevada are improving--although they have been much better in earlier years. November's sales improved 2.67% from the same month a year ago, but are down 8.55% from the same month in 2008.

A few notable YOY gains in Clark County:

Motor Vehicle & Parts Dealers--up 26.4%
Clothing & Clothing Accessory stores--up 10.9%
Accommodation--up 13.5%

Clark Co. Population Estimates

The Clark County Planning Commission estimates the county increased it's population in 2010 to 2,036,358--up from 2,006,347 in 2009. Clark County attracted an influx of new residents during the beginning of the decade, but suffered a severe drop in new residents since high unemployment and plummeting real-estate began in 2008. Official Census data will be distributed in the next few months.

Clark Co. Unemployment Rate Climbs...U.S. Falls

The unemployment rate in Clark County increased 0.6 percentage points in December compared to November 2010. The number of people employed fell 52,239 in December from the year before. The number of people unemployed increased 14,268 to 192,529 in December from the year before.

While Nevada continues to ache with increased unemployment, the U.S. unemployment rate ticked lower 0.4 percentage points to 9.4%. Nevada will likely gain significantly from any improvement in the U.S. economy--as more employed people can afford vacations in Nevada casinos.

Nevada's Economic Index

Nevada is bouncing at the bottom with slight increases from early 2009. Please review the Nevada Economic Report for January for more details.