MANKATO — The local economy continues to be filled with uncertainty and mixed signals. While retail and vehicle sales late last year were trending stronger than the end of 2008, some merchants say things continue to be slow.

At the same time, the number of employed people in the Region Nine area grew by about 1,600 jobs compared to a year ago. Unfortunately, the number of people without jobs grew by about 800, or 9 percent.

Of  the 19 local economic indicators tracked by The Free Press, eight were up and 11 were down compared to last year.

Bob Bomier, general manager of Pet Expo, said he’s getting a bad sense about the year ahead.

“The last three months of last year were pretty good — not ahead of a year earlier, but OK,” he said. “January was slow. You just get a feeling that there’s not the energy out there that there was. I’m concerned if this year will be worse than last year.”

Jim Murphy, owner of Rickway Carpet in North Mankato, shares the concern.

“It’s pretty quiet. The last few months have been even quieter than it was before that.”

He said this is usually the time of year people planning to build homes in the spring are shopping for carpet.

“We’re just not seeing that. People are maybe replacing carpet in one room, but they’re not coming in with blueprints. 2010 seems to be awfully quiet.”

Joe Frederick Jr. of Buffalo Wild Wings said things have been up and down, but mostly down at their downtown and hilltop locations.

“Last fall we did see a hit, which is odd because that’s when the students come back and we usually have a boost,” Frederick said.

“This year has been up and down.”

Two big up days were when the Vikings were in playoff games.

“Every bar and restaurant owner saw a lot of dollars going down the drain when (Favre) threw that interception,” said Frederick, referring to the errant pass that kept the Vikings out of the Super Bowl.

Bomier said he senses that people are being much more conservative in their spending because of job uncertainty.

“A lot of people have been out of work for a while, and people are worried about their jobs or someone they know.”

A new companion business, The Paw, also is taking a hit. “We couldn’t have opened it at a worse time.”

He said the dog training, grooming and day care business at The Paw has been decent but not the boarding, which was a key component.

“People aren’t going on big trips and boarding their pets.”

He said dog rehab also has been down.

“We talk to a lot of vets and they’ve been hit hard, too. People aren’t doing things with their pets beyond what they need to.”

The most recent data from the city of Mankato shows the end of 2009 was finishing fairly strong.

According to sales and vehicle tax collections, reported through November 2009, there were 612 vehicles sold in November, down from 846 a month earlier. But the vehicle sales numbers for September to November were far ahead of results from the same three months in 2008.

Local retail sales tax collections in November were $332,400, some $40,000 ahead of November 2008, but down from the $407,400 collected in October 2009.

Local residential construction and renovation finished 2009 with a bang.

Mankato issued $2.8 million in permits for residential renovations and new construction in December, coming off an even stronger November with $4.6 million in permits. Both those numbers were far ahead of the same months in 2008.

North Mankato issued $288,000 in December residential permits, down from a year earlier. But the November ’09 numbers — $1.8 million — were far ahead of a year earlier.

New housing starts in the two cities also remained good with 21 new homes started in December, compared to just one a year earlier. November saw 41 housing starts, compared to three in November 2008.

Commercial building permits were another story. The value of commercial permits issued in Mankato in December was just $427,200 and in North Mankato just $23,500. November 2009, however, was very strong for commercial construction and renovation permits in both cities.