LAS VEGAS (KSNV MyNews3) -- Las Vegas ushers in 2012 with the biggest party of the year, marking the end to a tough year for residents of the valley.
For the better part of the year, unemployment rates had increased until just last month, when it finally went down. However, it still hovers around 13-percent statewide, and here in clark county, it's around 12.5 percent. Las Vegas also remained the foreclosure capital with thousands of bank owned properties still on the market.
But good news could be on the horizon. Economic indicators have found that southern Nevada is set to improve slowly in 2012. Tourism, gaming, and hospitality sectors are all expected to get better.
Some experts anticipate a better year for the overall housing market.
"Let the free market do what it does and it repairs itself,” said Mark Start of the Prudential Americana group. “Right now the market has many investors that are very interested in the Las Vegas market, and they're putting their money where their mouth is."
This weekend is expected to bring in some 314,000 visitors to the Vegas valley -- about 5,000 more people from last year.
Non-Gaming revenue alone is expected to bring in about 193-million dollars on new year’s weekend, keeping a lot of locals employed.
