According to January visitation numbers, about 21,000 fewer travelers arrived from Canada compared to the same month last year.

California’s population is dropping, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data. However, its impact on the Las Vegas Valley’s economy and population is a complicated one, according to one of UNLV’s top demographic experts.

When Las Vegas casinos closed their doors during the COVID-19 pandemic, doors opened for small businesses in Nevada. In fact, the state led the nation in post-pandemic small business growth, according to new analysis from UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER).

The softening is showing up in hotel pricing, flight schedules and paychecks — echoing what the Federal Reserve's survey and recent airline earnings calls have flagged: Higher-income travelers keep booking, while households feeling the pinch pull back.

In the middle of the pandemic, when it seemed like business after business in Las Vegas was closing, Upbeat Health was just getting started. Today, the Summerlin clinic’s mobile wound-care team has grown nearly tenfold, one small example of how Nevada’s entrepreneurs turned crisis into opportunity.

The chances of another federal government shutdown rose after many Senate Democrats said they would oppose a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.

As some federal workers are still working to recover from the historic government shutdown near the end of 2025, another shutdown could be just days away. Economic experts say projections for Las Vegas tourism in 2026 are looking stronger than last year, but a second federal shutdown could quickly reverse that momentum and place renewed strain on thousands of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers in the valley.

Las Vegas is experiencing a continued decline in visitor numbers, impacting the hospitality sector, which employs one in four workers in Southern Nevada.