Atlantic City – A loss of 5,700 jobs in a couple of weeks

The Atlantic City region is on the brink of a short-term economic disaster. 

Atlantic City made history 36 years ago when it opened the first legal casinos in the United States outside Las Vegas.

Now it’s doing so again as casino employment – which for years exceeded the number of city residents – drops precipitously after a decade of steady decline.

The closing of three casinos, starting with Showboat and Revel this weekend followed by Trump Plaza two weeks later, and the rapid-fire loss of 5,700 jobs, draw historic comparisons to longer-term collapses of U.S. industries such as steel.

“This is a massive economic body blow to Atlantic City on par with the hit to the national economy during the Great Recession,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at  Atlantic City facing unprecedented economic collapse – Philly.com.

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Atlantic City – 6,000 layoffs of casino workers to come next week

One of the region’s largest mass-filings for unemployment and other benefits will begin next week for newly laid-off Atlantic City casino workers in an outreach effort so large it had to book part of the city’s convention center. The Showboat and Revel are shutting down this weekend, putting more than 5,000 workers out of work. … Continue reading →