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StumbleAs national jobless rate improves, LV sees signs of trouble
Friday, Dec. 4, 2009 | 10:42 a.m.
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Analysts say Southern Nevada's employment picture remains troubled, despite the surprising nationwide improvement announced today.
The U.S. unemployment rate fell in November to 10 percent from October's 10.2 percent, a development some observers say indicates the deep recession may be winding down. Many economists had expected the rate to remain at 10.2 percent.
Nevada's November unemployment statistics have not yet been released. Unemployment in the state stood at 13 percent in October.
While the unemployment rate in October in Nevada was down 0.3 of a percentage point from September, that was largely because a good number of workers left the Nevada labor force by moving out of state or gave up on finding employment.
Federal statistics showed that in October, total employment in the Las Vegas area was down 6.7 percent from October 2008 -- the third-worst showing in the nation among big cities behind the Phoenix (-7.3 percent) and Detroit (-7.2 percent) areas.
Brian Gordon, an analyst at Applied Analysis in Las Vegas, today said that despite the opening of CityCenter, employment in Southern Nevada is likely to continue to decline through late 2010 or early 2011.
The opening of the CityCenter megaresort complex on the Las Vegas Strip this month will bring with it some 12,000 jobs -- but Gordon said those gains will likely be offset by continued declines in the local construction and development industry.
"From a fundamental perspective, the number of jobs is continuing to decline,'' Gordon said.
The Las Vegas-area construction industry, with its high-paying jobs, has been hit hard by the recession.
No quick turnaround is likely because:
--There's an oversupply locally of office buildings, warehouses and retail space and few such projects are on the drawing boards.
--Construction has been halted indefinitely on the Echelon and Fontainebleau casino resorts, and there's little chance the gaming industry will launch new resorts in the short term.
--The homebuilding industry locally has slowed dramatically, with a high percentage of existing homeowners underwater in their mortgages and therefore unable to sell their homes so they can move up to new homes.
Statewide, construction employment peaked at nearly 150,000 jobs in mid 2006, state statistics show. Through October of this year, employment in the sector had tumbled to just 83,700 people.
The decline in construction employment tells just part of the story. The other troubling factor is the loss in local spending power as construction workers lose their jobs with the completion of projects and then can't find new ones.
Nevada construction workers in 2008 were paid an average of $1,108 weekly vs. the overall average wage of $827, according to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.
Gordon said there may be a bit of good news for the tourism industry, including Nevada's, in today's U.S. jobs report.
With U.S. employers having shed 7.9 million jobs since the recession started in December 2007, companies are typically running as lean as ever and the remaining employees may remain more confident they won't be laid off, Gordon said.
"That may ultimately translate to consumers being more willing to travel,'' he said.
Another analyst, John Restrepo of Restrepo Consulting Group in Las Vegas, wasn't optimistic that today's U.S. jobs report would translate into an immediate boost to the Southern Nevada economy.
"It appears that the decline in the employment rate in November was largely due to the hiring of temporary and health care workers. The good news is that the hiring of temp workers may lead to the hiring of full-time employees," Restrepo said.
"In spite of the unemployment rate edging down a bit, the number of long-term unemployed persons rose moderately to 5.9 million, while forced part-time workers stayed about the same as October. Additionally, 'discouraged workers' increased by 42 percent from November 2008,'' he said. "Clearly, the signs of recovery at the national level remain mixed. This means that Southern Nevada will continue to lag the national recovery, because consumer confidence and spending remain weak."
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Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
Hope and change at its best.
When the hotels got greedy for the umpteeth time and with the LVCVA spending money on Rossi's awards - not spending it on actually bringing or keeping an event in Las Vegas. Well - you get what you deserve.
No business = no new building
No business = reduced flight capacity making it near impossible to fill City Center without them taking business away from other hotels.
Seeing that Vdara is already selling at $129 a night in December - this will be a long painful process that will not get better.
Who is asking the LVCVA to be accountable for their business strategies and why they had their feet up on their desks instead of hitting the pavement? Their late reaction to sinking business levels in the time frame where they were promoting $300 a night luxury hotels as the future of Vegas in 2007 should be examined.
No one is doing this. While you might want to hate on Sheldon Adelson for his position on the LVCVA, he is the only one who has openly asked these questions.
Sad that so many people are paying the price.
The old paradigm of having an economy built around the American consumer is over. The easy credit and inflated home values that Americans to be the main engine for the global economy is over. The solution is not a simple matter of brining back the same jobs that have been lost in the past 2 years. It will take time for the American economy to retool itself for the new paradigm - greater emphasis on exports and alternatice energy - will take some time. That is the change that is taking place.
LV won't solve their unemployment problem by issuing simply issuing building permits. Nor will it be possible to offer enticements to retailers because many local consumers are tapped out. It will need businesses not dependent on the local economy. It will need to entice businesses who serve consumers and businesses outside of LV.
vegas got gobsmacked big time as this current economic crisis continues to stay out of control. hoping on the gaming industry to pull the chestnuts out of the fire is the wrong plan of action. the current political leadership cant tie their own shoes.
To: Mikegino
I love it when the right wing idiots come out and post comments with no substance what so ever.
our president and all of his followers are morons.
you can't create or "save" ( i love that one ) jobs by telling those "evil" rich people that create those jobs that we're going to take more money away from you from the profit you MAKE from those jobs.
if YOU ran a lemonade stand and were making $20.00 per day doing it yourself, would you really hire someone so you could make $30.00 per day, only to have that extra $10.00 taken away from you in taxes?
vegas is the END result of economic activity, NOT the CAUSE of it. if businesses can't make money, they don't hire, when they don't hire, nobody has a paycheck to pay their bills and have a little LEFT OVER to come to vegas.
we don't sell or make tires, gas, medicine, cash registers, computers, clothes,...ANYTHING that is a required purchase by people. and if people aren't buying THOSE things...what makes you think they're going to come to vegas?
stevem, you are meandering in your comments. Jobs saved is correct because there have been many teaching jobs that would have cut if not for the assistance provided to state and local governments by the federal gov't. Wouldsn't you consider a job saved that would have been lost if not for financial assistance?
Further< dinot understand your lemonae stand example. Are you saying that the proprietor pays no taxes when he earns 20 for the day? Wouldn't any reasonable proprietor forst consider the increase in revenue less any expenses before considering hiring a worker? Also, there is no additional taxes if there was in fact a loss if net income if the revenue did not increase enough to cover the expense of an additional worker?
If you are trying to say that cutting taxes will encourqage hiring workers, I will have to say that is not necessarily so. If there is no demand to warrant hiring additonal help, cutting of taxes would simply mean money into the owner's pockets without an increase of employment. Also, if we were to give tax cust to industries to encourage hiring what is to prevent them from hiring oversease or continue to offshore work and once again pocket the tax increase?
It's an exaggeration to say we do not manufactur anything. It is more accurate that we do need a balance of trade with other countries, but we need to focus on those products where we have an advantage. we have no advantage making shoes when workers overseas are paid a few dollars a day.
Sue Lowdung does not believe in extending unemployment benefits.
Red: we shouldn't give unemployment or other welfare benefits to anyone as long as our streets are lined with trash.
"There's an oversupply locally of office buildings." There you go Oscar! Your City Hall demand is solved.
Any idiot will (or should) know that it is going to take a econimic recovery in other states before LV & Nevada start seeing any turn around.
Maybe this econimic slump will kick some people in the head and make them start to look at bringing jobs and industries to Nevada that aren't tourist/casino based industries.
Too many casino jobs are low paying menial grunt jobs for uneducated masses.......Nevada needs jobs and industries where the pay is good and education matters.
fogcity...your liberal mentality just proves my point.
if you honestly think that cutting taxes does not lead to an increase in jobs, then i think you need to go back and study freshman college economics.
less taxes = more profit.
more profit = money for advertising / expansion = new jobs.
and judging by the educational system in nevada...umm...i wouln't use teachers are your example of liberal policy success.
Go with Oscar Goodman...be a show girl.
More people lost jobs than found jobs but the unemployment rate fell from 10.2% to 10%.
Why?
Because once a person stops looking for work and give up then they don't count that person as unemployed.
A lot of people are giving up......
The nations economy will not get better till the blue collar workers go back to work, period. There the rudder that steers our nations economy.
That's it, I'm gonna start selling crack, there is no shortage of demand for this and be like my hero the prophet
Some of you all are really sleep on Sergio. I completely agree with him in regard to the way things are going in this country. I couldn't tell you anything about HEMP. I will say that I am advocate for higher education, but even that is a system designed to keep you enslaved. You are better off being and entrepreneur.
Las Vegas is a so much trouble.
Stevem had the right idea IMO.
Fogcity, you seem bright, i can't believe you didnt understand the example about the lemonade stand.
Americans DESERVE To Be Unemployed
"Wonder why Washington politicians gathering in Jobs Summits on Thursday show NO interest in pushing illegal aliens out of their jobs in order to put millions of unemployed Americans back to work? A major pro-amnesty coalition has just provided one answer."
http://www.numbersusa.com/content/nusabl...
Sgt Rock:
I know many people who have stopped looking. It is the same old story every time y0u go on an interview - you think the interview went well but you don't hear a word afterwards. Not even "sorry but (fill in one of the lame excuses employers use). After a while you just don't care anymore.
****
get-involved:
That was brought to my attention also about the illegal aliens. Do you really think the gov't is going to ever address that?
*****
Sergio The Prophet:
Do you EVER get tired of talking??? Or in this case - posting stuff that goes "on and on and on and on" and sometimes make no sense? One can become brain dead reading one of your posts....or at least fall asleep.
I am appalled as a business owner in Nevada that when I mail my various state tax returns, they are being sent to Phoenix, Arizona.
Arizona? Why not Nevada? This surely would create jobs here. Idiots. Plain and simple.
sergio, please stop writing about yourself, trust me, no one cares.
You cut this deep with a knife into this economy and the wound will take longer than usual to heal.Next to the Great depression....this is the closest we have ever come to repeating it.Why can't people understand the magnitude of this situation. Think out of the box for once. This is global...
I have no idea if Sergio is making everything up. If he was really a successful entrepreneur I doubt if he would have the time to type massive amounts of meaningless text on this website. On the other hand I do agree with him about the questionable value of a college degree. College is a rip-off designed to get you into massive debt.
sergio the nut
With propriety creating jobs is the most important thing here today and in future. Everybody has a life to respect and family with relatives. New generation needs lots of new jobs, new working places, new world.
As they say, you never know who's the fiancee of your next generation. Help creating jobs for all.
Perhaps construction should focus on homeless shelters. Looks like the city is going to need more of them.
Glen Beck said they are building internment camps for conservatives to be run by Acorn... that will provide jobs.
It's all over ! The end is near...
Teach your Union reps Cantonese and send em to China.
ex pres. BUSH making money making speeching to all those people he help while in office
Face reality for once folks. The common language for biz will be Chinese Mandarin and Spanish in about 5 more years.
Sergio...Good point, but feel good about this. I work for the country's largest defense contractor, I can assure you that No, zero, zip, nada, Chinese raw material, components, or hardware are contained in ANY of our fighter or transport aircraft.
For all you putting down Sergio on his hemp.......
you all need to go educate yourself on the subject.
For instance one acre of hemp can produce 4 tons of fiber. Its very renewalbe, tress aren't so renewable, they take years and years to grow.
Hemp made into plywood is much stronger than its counterpart.....the tree.
But than again. You all live in vegas, not known as the most intelligent people living in the US.
If U.S can't create intelligent working places, who is it.
What did these guys do with the $1100+ a week they made? If invested they should have nice savings to live off while the economy rebounds. RIGHT!
Construction workers are very transient, quick to brag about how much they make an hour yet never have any savings. When they all blow out of town it wil be better for the long term. I do realize the stripers, some downbeaten off strip casinos and clubs will loose business..still, they are not an economy you can depend on.
Sergio....you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.
Jrfree, what about all of the counterfeit chips that are smuggled here?
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/con...
This is just a small clip of a long but interesting article about chinese electronics in American defense systems.
"In a separate incident last January, a chip falsely identified as having been made by Xicor, now a unit of Intersil in Milpitas, Calif., was discovered in the flight computer of an F-15 fighter jet at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Ga. People familiar with the situation say technicians were repairing the F-15 at the time. Special Agent Terry Mosher of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations confirms that the 409th Supply Chain Management Squadron eventually found four counterfeit Xicor chips."