Sales still slumping statewide
CARSON CITY — The Nevada economy continued to sputter in November as sales of taxable items by businesses dropped 1.3 percent from November 2006, the Department of Taxation reported Thursday.
Businesses sold products with a taxable value of $3.8 billion, down $51 million from a year earlier. Eleven of the state’s 17 counties reported a drop in sales.
Statewide sales of taxable items have declined from the same month the previous year in seven of the past eight months.
But state Budget Director Andrew Clinger said November sales "were not any worse than we expected." He added the governor will not have to make any additional cuts in state spending based on the November sales report.
Gov. Jim Gibbons announced in January his plan to cut state spending by $565 million over the next 18 months because sales and other tax revenue have fallen far short of expectations.
Most analysts do not see a recovery until 2009, when construction is farther along on several planned billion-dollar casinos in Las Vegas and workers need housing.
Gibbons blamed the November decline on the slow housing market and a sluggish overall economy. But he said several sectors of the economy reported solid increases in sales.
Sales by hotels and motels increased 14 percent from a year earlier, while clothing and accessory store sales were up 5.7 percent and electronic and appliance store sales increased by 11 percent.
"Hopefully this week’s additional reduction in interest rates by the Federal Reserve will have a positive effect on the economy," Gibbons said in a statement.
Since the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1, sales tax revenue received by state government is down 3.5 percent from the same period in 2006.
Tax revenue has fallen $47 million below the forecast made by the state Economic Forum in May. The forum is a group of five private business leaders who predict the amount of tax revenue available for state government spending.
Their predictions were followed by the Nevada Legislature and the governor in building the state government’s $6.8 billion, two-year budget.
Sales by Clark County businesses in November were $2.85 billion, up $70 million, or 2.5 percent, from November 2006.
Some rural counties reported dramatic declines in sales by businesses in November. Storey County sales were down 90 percent from November 2006, while Esmeralda County sales plunged 88 percent.
Nye County sales were $35 million in November, down 27 percent from $48 million in sales in November 2006.
Washoe County companies sold products valued at $534 million, down $8 million from the same month the previous year.
The biggest increase came in White Pine County, where businesses sold products and goods valued at $16 million, up 26 percent from November 2006.
Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or (775) 687-3901.