Taxable sales increase in Nye County

Nye County reported $52.9 million in taxable sales in December, an increase of 5.8 percent from the same month in 2015, according to a report released Monday by the Nevada Department of Taxation.

For the fiscal year, taxable sales increased 3.2 percent to $278.5 million July 1 through Dec. 31.

Motor vehicle sales continue an upward trend, increasing 27.6 percent to $6.5 million in December, and increasing 9.4 percent to $37.4 million for the six months ending Dec. 31.

Other strong December categories were general merchandise stores (up 6.5 percent to $5.8 million), machinery manufacturing (up 17.2 percent to $3.6 million) and specialty trade contractors (up 79.5 percent to $2.1 million).

All the news wasn’t positive. Some key categories that reported a year-to-year decrease in December include merchant wholesalers, durable goods (down 29.3 percent to $3.6 million), chemical manufacturing (down 9.3 percent to $2.8 million) and bars and restaurants (down 3.6 percent to $3.2 million).