Economist: “We’ve turned a corner”
By 2015, the employment numbers in Nevada’s leisure and hospitality industries could be back where they were in the pre-recession era, according to Vegasinc.com.
The low came in November 2009, when 304,000 were working in the sector. In July of this year, 335,500 people were on the job at casinos, hotels and resort-related businesses, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show. That’s just 7,100 jobs fewer than the high of 342,600 workers employed in these jobs in December 2007. If employment continues to grows at the current rate, reported Vegasinc.com, the state could see a return to pre-recession rates.
“Basically, because the recession impacted consumer spending and disposable incomes so much, that sector was very hard hit. We’ve turned a corner, and we’ve been adding jobs the past couple of years,” said Bill Anderson, chief economist for the research and analysis bureau at the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. “We think that reaching the pre-recessionary peak is in sight.”
But casinos themselves have not seen a full resurgence, due to the demand for more nongaming attractions and continuing automation of the industry. According to UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research, the number of workers in Nevada’s casinos and resorts peaked in 2006 at 215,000 employees. Last year, the state had fewer than 170,000 casino workers.
One factor is that Nevada had fewer casinos in 2013 than when employment was at its highest point. There were 273 casinos in the state in 2006, but in 2013 there were only 252.
David Schwartz, director of the gaming research center, said casinos have also “become a little bit less labor intensive” over the years. But, the research said, the employees who remain are “better paid, both in absolute and relative terms, than they were before the recession.”
