Some good economic news
Employees of the 13 Bruce Scher Goodyear tire and auto repair shops in the Valley got some unhappy Christmas greetings last week. Following the death of the chain’s namesake and owner, Bruce Scher, the Las Vegas stores closed Dec. 17.
But the better news is that the locations may not sit dark for long – more than one investor is reportedly looking at the possibility of buying and re-opening the locations.
In fact, an uptick in consumer spending meant a merrier November for thousands of newly employed Nevadans, as state and local unemployment rates edged down toward single digits and retail hiring was reported back to pre-recession levels.
Dec. 21 numbers from the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation showed a seasonally adjusted gain of 9,200 jobs from October to November, the biggest monthly jump since April, 2005. Private-sector employment in Nevada hit the 1 million mark for the first time since March 2009.
“We’re seeing improvements in the overall job market, with the retail sector in particular doing better,” said Brian Gordon, a principal in local research firm Applied Analysis.
That’s all good news … though economists caution against reading too much into one month’s numbers.
Nevada still ranked No. 1 among states for November unemployment, with Rhode Island ranking No. 2 at 10.4 percent. And fingers are crossed everywhere that new taxes and the fallout from costly new federal regulations don’t turn January into an early Groundhog Day, with investors and businessmen alike poking out of their holes, looking around … and deciding to go back into hibernation.
