A report was released that taxable sales for the state of Nevada has decreased by 8.1%. This decrease is mainly caused from the decrease of the construction industry, down 57.4%. Most of the other sectors have actually shown an increase.
The biggest rise is in accommodations at 14.0%. This actually looks good for Nevada’s tourism, as it means more money was spent on hotels than last year. This does look like the sign of some recovery in the tourism and travel industry, even if the reports are saying that the recovery is going to be slow.
Two other areas that have increased are furniture and furnishings sales and clothing and accessories sales. They have risen 6.9% and 5.0%, respectively. Merchants are reporting that they are seeing an increase in sales, but shoppers are still wary about making the big purchases, as they are going more towards the smaller purchases.
Two areas that have declined are auto sales and food and beverage store sales. These in addition to construction sales have been the worst hit for the past two years. There are expectations that taxable sales will stutter between growth and decline before showing gains over time.
There have been comparisons of the state of Nevada’s (as well as the rest of the country’s) economy to a “tortoise rally”. Nevada’s will actually be slower than the rest considering most of the economy is dependent on the leisure and hospitality sector, which really depends on the economy of the other states.
