INDUSTRY-BY-INDUSTRY OUTLOOK : The Year in Preview

California came several years late to the nation’s economic recovery party, but the state should be celebrating all through 1997.

Here is what key industries will be up to:

GAMING: Las Vegas will again be the center of industry attention as more than 6,000 new rooms are scheduled to open in 1997 on the Las Vegas Strip, starting with the launch of New York-New York, a $450-million, 2,000-room joint venture of MGM Grand and Primadonna Resorts. Meanwhile the strength of gambling’s expansion across the country remains in doubt; Detroit was the only new gaming jurisdiction approved by voters in 1996. Another question mark is the fate of the long-awaited Harrah’s New Orleans casino, which remains in bankruptcy and needs state approval to open.