By Kirk Caraway
A recent report commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Mayors awards Carson City the dubious distinction of being the only metropolitan area studied that is predicted to not recover any jobs this year.
Add to that this morning’s unemployment report showing the rate for Carson City climbed to 12.2 percent in December, and one can’t help worrying about the economic outlook for our area.
Mayor Bob Crowell said the Mayors’ study contains some false data that skews the results.
“Perhaps the most glaring error is the statement that Carson City laid off 600 workers in the last half of last year,” Crowell responded. “While it is true that in the last three years or so, Carson City has reduced its labor force by around 100 positions and cut its budget by just north of 20 percent it is also true that Carson City only has around 562 employees making it rather impossible to lay off 600 employees.”
(Editor’s note: See Mayor Crowell’s response to report below)
“This is a good news/bad news scenario,” said Ronnie Hannaman, executive director of the Carson City Chamber of Commerce. “The bad news is the loss of jobs, though most of them were through attrition and retirement. The good news is that those who complain about the cost of government can rejoice, for the cost of government is far less than it was in 2007 and seems to be working just fine.”
Hannaman noted that Carson City was hit hard because it has a high percentage of government workers, but there is not enough tax revenue to support all those who were hired during the good times.
“Carson City, overall, seems to have weathered the downturn just fine,” Hannaman said. “Perhaps it was time to trim some excess as has the private sector and reassess the purpose of government overall.”
The real estate market does look to be improving. According to the Carson City Assessor’s website, the number or property transactions in 2011 was more than double the number in 2008, and has steadily climbed each year since.
The local business climate also looks upbeat compared to the start of the recession. Since 2008, we’ve had several new businesses move in, including national chains like Kohl’s, Olive Garden and Big Lots. While Safeway is gone, another regional chain is moving into that space.
“National companies continue to look at Carson City,” Hannaman said. “Their research shows that our economy is worth considering when they bring in their chains.”
Back in 2009, I wrote a story about a tour I took down Carson Street, counting 109 empty commercial properties. I will do an update on that in the coming days, but I would guess there are far fewer empty spaces as there were back then.
Is the economy going up or down? Or, as the conflicting evidence seems to point, are we somewhere in the middle? What are your perceptions?
