Despite posting one of the strongest jumps in employment, Las Vegas was the only metropolitan area in the Mountain West with declining economic output in recent months, according to a report from the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program.
The value of goods and services produced in Las Vegas Valley fell by 0.2 percent in the second quarter, the report said. The dip comes after the region’s output grew by 1.6 percent in the first quarter of the year.
Nine other metro areas tracked by Brookings posted gains, although each rose by less than 1 percent. They include Salt Lake City (0.6 percent), Phoenix (0.5 percent), Albuquerque (0.2 percent) and Denver (0.1 percent). National output rose 0.6 percent.
“Las Vegas suffered the sharpest reversal of progress,” the Brookings report said.
Meanwhile, employment in the Las Vegas area rose 0.6 percent in the second quarter, compared with a gain of 0.2 percent nationally.
Boise posted the Mountain West’s largest gain (1.3 percent), while the only cities to see a decline were Tucson (0.2 percent) and Albuquerque (0.3 percent).