Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Cooler state economy still hot

Nevada's economy slowed in 1995 from the previous year but it wasn't stagnant by any means.

"Watching Nevada statistics is somewhat like looking into a beehive of activity from a quieter, more distant place," said John Mitchell, U.S. Bank's economist in Barometer, an economic analysis of the western region.

Employment increased by 7 percent in 1995, 1.4 percentage points above Utah, the second-fastest-growing state, and more than three times the national average.

Job gains totaled 51,100 with 20,500 of those jobs in hotels, gaming and the recreation sector. But employment increases were also widespread. Construction was up 4 percent from the previous year, manufacturing, 2 percent; wholesale and retail, 4 percent. Services were down 4 percent and government was down 5 percent.

Elko continues to experience rapid growth in the mining sector with numerous gold mining projects under way, Mitchell said.

Employment in Las Vegas increased by 7.8 percent -- Salt Lake City was in second place in the region, trailing Las Vegas by 2.1 percentage points. The economist attributed Las Vegas' success to "a combination of sunshine, laws, visions and water in proximity to a mega-state with a very different environment."

The Silver State saw population gains of 328,433 -- 27.3 percent -- between 1990 and 1995, about five times the national increase of 5.6 percent. Most of the increase, 76 percent or 251,225 people, was in Clark County.

Washoe County saw a population increase of 36,166 to 290,833 over the five-year period. Nevada's rate of increase slipped to 4.7 percent in 1995, down from 5.6 percent the year before. It still remained the highest in the nation, Mitchell said.

The gaming industry won $7.37 billion in 1995, 5.2 percent above the 1994 figure which had increased by 12.2 percent. He said the slowing was expected in the wake of major casino openings in late 1994.

In Washoe County, the win rose by 7.6 percent to $973 million, attributed in part to the opening of the new Silver Legacy.

Mitchell expects the strong economy to continue with today's opening of Stratosphere resort, and the Monte Carlo and New York-New York later this year. Although gaming continues to be the dominant industry, manufacturing continues to make gains as do business services with major back-office functions in Southern Nevada like Citicorp, Household Finance and Bank of America's dealer center, Mitchell said.

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