WATERLOO --- The recession persists across Black Hawk County, according to third-quarter economic indicators.

But there appeared to be some subtle signs that the local economy's backslide is at least slowing.

For the quarter ending Sept. 30, only one of the eight chief economic indicators that the Courier regularly tracks showed improvement over a the year-ago period. However, two categories were virtually unchanged from the second quarter. In the previous two quarters, six of the eight categories had shown losses. One of the categories --- home sales --- was off from a year ago, but the local board of Realtors blamed a lack of inventory, not prospective customers, for that showing.

At a more micro level, however, the local economy showed some signs of life, with eight of 15 sub-categories showing gains for the quarter.

Another key indicator --- employment --- has followed national trends but has improved slightly over the last two months.

"I'm not ready just yet to call that a trend," said Linda Laylin, director of commercial and industrial development for the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance.

However, the recession that has driven joblessness from the high 3s a year ago to 6.3 percent in July, 5.9 in August and 5.6 in September, has persisted in a number of areas. A year ago, six of the key indicators had shown improvement in the third quarter.

This time, five categories declined. Two others were down, but the declines were slight enough to show them virtually even year-on-year. One, vehicle registrations, in the wake of the federal government's Car Allowance Rebate System --- "Cash for Clunkers" --- totaled 11,466, compared to 11,402 a year earlier. The other, electric and natural gas connections, were almost even with year-ago totals. Electric connections totaled 54,299, compared to 54,309 in 2008; gas hook-ups finished the quarter at 42,096, compared to 42,026 a year earlier. The uptick in gas connections stopped a string of three quarters of declines --- the longest such streak since the recession of the 1980s.

The lone decisively upward indicator --- deposits at local banks and credit unions --- continued a yearlong trend, perhaps extending a sign that area residents were in a mood to save. Deposits at 10 area financial institutions totaled $4.12 billion, compared to $3.79 billion in 2008.

Other numbers seemed to reflect a continuation of the downturn.

The total dollar amount of new construction activity was $51.8 million this year, down nearly 12 percent from $58.6 million in 2008.

Permits were issued for 65 new homes in Waterloo and Cedar Falls from July through September, compared to 50 during 3Q 2008. Fifty-two were in Cedar Falls, and 13 in Waterloo. A year ago, 36 were issued in Cedar Falls and 14 in Waterloo. For the quarter ending Sept. 30, the 45 Cedar Falls homes were valued at about $10.03 million, or $192,873 per house. Waterloo's 13 totaled around $1.85 million, or about $141,967 each.

Home sales were off, year-on-year, in the third quarter, according to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Board of Realtors. Sales totaled 621 from July through September, compared to 731 a year earlier. The average sales price of $134,961 in 2009 was up from $111,250 a year earlier. The median price this year was $117,000, compared to $107,900 in 2008.

The average number of days on the market in the quarter was 75, compared to 64 a year ago.

Home sales statewide, meanwhile, increased 4.6 percent.

"They had quite an overbuilding of new construction that we didn't have a couple of years ago. so they had some inventory that they were finally selling," said Bob Reisinger, executive vice president of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Board of Realtors.

He said he'd like to see the federal government's Federal Housing Tax Credit for First-Time Home Buyers --- worth as much as $8,000 --- extended beyond its Dec. 1 deadline.

Perhaps another sign of the times could be found in an increase in bankruptcy filings in the third quarter --- 147, compared to 119 in 2008.

The total labor force --- 93,600 and number of people employed, 87,700 --- slipped from the same quarter a year ago, when the labor force numbered 94,700 and the number of employed was 87,700. Average unemployment, at 5.9 percent in the second quarter, was up over last year's 3.9 percent.

On the travel front, airline passenger boardings dropped from 6,746 a year ago to 5,897 this year.