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The unemployment rate in the casino rich state of Nevada has now hit 14.3 percent and things do not seem to be getting much better. The percentage rose from 14.1 in October.
Hurting the most, the construction and hospitality sectors.
The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that, for the first time since February 1995, construction employment in Nevada has dipped below 60,000 jobs.
"It's debatable as to whether we're going to see Nevada lead the nation in terms of population growth for two decades running like we did before," Bill Anderson, chief economist for the state employment department, told the Las Vegas Review Journal. "That's going to lessen the need for expansion in our housing base. In construction, I doubt we will ever get back to where we were. Two decades down the road, perhaps we'll be back to where we were, but for the foreseeable future, I don't see that happening."
As for hospitality, the industry's jobs base has fallen to its lowest level since October 2001.
It’s not all bleak in regard to the hospitality and casino sector. Tourism and gaming are showing slight improvements and that trend is expected to continue the next two years, at least where Las Vegas is concerned.
"Whatever other industry does well in the nation, those people are going to come to Las Vegas for their vacations and gaming will do well as a result of that," Dr. Stephen Brown with UNLV's Business & Economic Research Department told 8 News Now.
Slight improvements in the economy are expected through 2012 and that should have a trickle-down effect on Vegas and other Nevada hot spots, according to a report released by Dr. Brown’s department at UNLV.
“We are at the point where we think tourism and gaming will pick up, but it’s still what I would characterize as a weak recovery,” Brown said.
UNLV projects visitor volume will grow 3.2 percent in 2011 and 3.3 percent in 2012 after growing 2.4 percent in 2010. Gross gaming revenue will increase 1.9 percent in 2011 and 2.3 percent in 2012 after increasing 1.2 percent in 2010.
Nevada has led the nation in joblessness, bankruptcies and foreclosures.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
