Atlantic City had one of the highest job loss rates in the U.S. as the region lost 9,900 jobs in the past 12 months.
The figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and include other municipalities that make up Atlantic County New Jersey. The county saw a 7.3 percent job loss. The nearby Ocean City New Jersey region lost 3.4 percent of its jobs.
But the stark figures for the region can be traced to the closing of four casinos in Atlantic City starting with the closing of the Atlantic Club in January. More than 8,000 jobs have been lost in the closings and as many as 3,000 more could be lost if the Trump Taj Mahal closes this month.
Efforts to save the Taj Mahal through bankruptcy proceedings are still underway, but the casino could close December 20.
“With the job losses from the closed casinos and the rippling effect that has, due to unemployed workers having less money to spend in the community, the general economy is down as a result, and more layoffs continue,” analyst Michael Busler, finance program coordinator at Richard Stockton College told the Press of Atlantic City.
The decline was the largest non-farm job loss of 318 metropolitan areas studied.
The high job loss has set a number of aid and training plans for workers in motion.
The city has announced a training program for workers set to begin in January.
State Senator Diane Allen, a Burlington County Republican, also announced a bill to dedicate at least $1 million a year from the state Labor Department’s Workforce Development Partnership Fund to provide training and education to laid off casino workers within the past two years—including any potential layoffs at the Taj Mahal.
The program would provide support leading to a degree or training certificate from a county college in New Jersey and includes covering books, lab fees and transportation.
Allen said the program would continue until the unemployment rate in Atlantic County drops by more than half to under 5 percent. The county’s unemployment rate is currently 11.2 percent.
Meanwhile, another bill has been introduced in the legislature to urge the U.S. Department of Labor to approve the state’s proposal for a National Emergency Grant to fund workforce training and education programs for the affected residents of Atlantic County.
The jobs figures also come as a study by Stockton College showed how strongly the impact of three of the city’s casino closings—Showboat, Revel, Trump Plaza, which all closed at the end of August to mid-September—had on the struggling resort.
The study from the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism at Stockton showed that economic indicators for the city were up through the summer. In August, the study found that the city’s luxury tax and hotel occupancy fee hit new highs.
The study found that a pair of free beach concerts starring Blake Shelton and Lady Antebellum respectively helped fuel the strong August numbers. The report’s authors concluded that the city can attract strong visitor numbers with non-casino events and attractions.
But the casinos remain the city’s driving force and the closings of the Showboat (Aug. 31), Revel (Sept. 2) and Trump Plaza (Sept. 16) sent the indicators spiraling down by more than 20 percent for September.
