Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

Dragged down by the "one-industry, consumer-based" Las Vegas economy, Southern Nevada will be one of the areas in the United States with the slowest financial recovery, economists said.

It is expected to take at least two more years for Southern Nevada to bounce back from the weak economy, a study made by the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) reported.

"Southern Nevada will likely lag behind the rest of the nation’s financial progress because the Las Vegas economy is a one-industry consumer-based system," CBER Director Keith Schwer said in a statement.

Schwer noted that Las Vegas relies heavily on the tourism industry, which is experiencing a slump due to the sagging national economy. Revenues from Las Vegas comprise a large part of the Southern Nevada economy.

"Southern Nevada ’s economy is dependent upon discretionary spending. In an economic downturn that’s the first type of spending that will be cut back," Schwer noted in his statement.

The report was presented at the CBER’s mid-year economic outlook conference last Tuesday, June 23rd in Las Vegas.

The study noted that the opening of new leisure and hospitality properties in Las Vegas will generate jobs and help cut unemployment.

"However, until consumers are confident about their job prospects, they will remain cautious about spending on discretionary items like leisure travel," the report said.

The UNLV conference, held twice a year, forecasts economic trends for the U.S. and Southern Nevada. The CBER staff gathers data from state employment offices, as well as gaming and tourism agencies to analyze local and national economic trends.

Tourism in Las Vegas accounts for a big part of Nevada ’s revenues. Some 230,000 Nevada jobs depend on tourism. Since it has no state income tax, Nevada ’s budget relies heavily on revenues generated from the tourism industry.

But the state has been suffering from lackluster tourist visits since the start of the year, due to the sagging national and global economy.

In Las Vegas alone, visitor volume dwindled by 8.7% from January to March this year, compared to the same period last year. Convention attendance, meanwhile, dropped by almost 30% during the same period, data from the Las Vegas Conventions and Visitors Authority showed.

This has been a problem for Las Vegas residents who work in the hotel and casino industry that has been implementing persistent massive layoffs since last year.

MGM Mirage, Nevada’s largest employer, has reduced its full-time workforce by more than 1,000 in Nevada over the past year, and Harrah’s Entertainment, the world’s largest gaming company, has laid off about 2,000 workers in the state since January.

NV Sen. Harry Reid, in a May senate hearing noted, "The recent decline in visitors to Nevada has unfortunately contributed to the worst state budget shortfall in the state’s history."

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( Published on July 2, 2009 in Asian Journal Las Vegas p. A1 )