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Tens of thousands of casino jobs were lost over the past decade as fewer people visited casinos and casino revenue declined. However, Mississippi's casino industry still supports many gambling jobs across the state.

A new report from the John C. Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University found that 24,789 people - about 2.12 percent of the state's total employment - were employed by casinos and casino hotels across the state during Q2 2010.

The casino and casino hotel industry lost 14,769 employees, a decrease of 37.3 percent, between Q2 2000 and Q2 2010. Casinos alone lost 12,540 jobs, a decrease of 36.6 percent, while casino hotels lost 2,229 workers, a decline of 42.9 percent.

That drop in employment caused casino and casino hotel payrolls to decline as well. Payrolls fell from $907.3 million during 2000 to $750.5 million during 2009, a loss of $156.9 million.

Revenue at casinos across the state also declined, dropping from $2.649 billion during 2000 to $2.465 billion during 2009. This means the state lost about $184.6 million, a decrease of 6.97 percent, in casino revenue during that time period.

Part of the reason for that revenue decline is that fewer people have been visiting casinos in Mississippi. A total of 33.65 people went to casinos in 2009, which is a decrease of 22.38 million from the 56.03 million who did so during 2000. That being said, fewer out-of-state visitors went to casinos between 2000 and 2009, but the number of Mississippi residents who visited casinos actually increased.

Labels: Gambling jobs

A popular company that re-markets cars is planning to create new sales jobs in Dallas (Click here).

Copart, Inc. recently announced its plans to move the company's headquarters from Fairfield, Calif., to Dallas, Texas, by 2012. The move is part of the car seller's effort to grow, keep up with increasing demand, and be more accessible to customers.

Copart also is planning to open three divisional processing centers in Fairfield; Grand Prairie, Texas; and Hartford, Conn. during the next two years. Some duties currently performed at the Fairfield headquarters will be taken on by these centers.

"This change will position us closer to our customers geographically, resulting in improved customer service and greater operational efficiencies," Copart CEO Jay Adair said in a statement. "Combined with our planned implementation of new technologies, the realignment of Copart's business and corporate operations will allow us to better respond to the needs of our clients and the global market."

The company's move to the Dallas area is good news for the local economy, which continues to recover from the economic downturn. During December, the area's unemployment rate dropped from 8.3 percent to 8 percent, which was well below the national average at the time of 9.4 percent.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Dallas-Plano-Irving area employed about 2,050,700 workers during December, which is up from 2,045,900 workers during November and a 1.4 percent increase from the previous year.

Copart provides a variety of services for people and businesses looking to sell their vehicles. The company currently has 152 operations throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

The company uses a specific type of online technology to sell salvage and clean title vehicles to dealers, dismantlers, rebuilders, exporters, and individual drivers. They sell vehicles on behalf of insurance companies, banks, finance companies, fleet operators, dealers, car dealerships, and the general public.

Labels: Sales jobs in Dallas

A smaller local airport supports thousands of jobs in Mesa (Click here).

A new report from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University found that the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport supports more than 4,000 jobs and injected $685 million into the local economy during 2010.

Employment increased at the airport by 45 percent and outside of the airport by 86 percent when compared to 2008. At the same time, economic activity increased at the airport by 121 percent and outside of the airport by 86 percent.

The study included both direct spending from visitors at the airport and indirect spending from visitors in the area. Those activities totaled $378.5 million, and when added with rounds of re-spending the money, totaled $685 million.

"A well-functioning airport serves as a portal that welcomes commerce and visitors into the region," Lee McPheters, a research professor who led the study, said. "Compared to just two years ago, visitor spending from travelers arriving at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport is up by more than 80 percent. These air visitors alone spent more than $68 million last year, and that created more than 1,000 local jobs."

Other highlights of the report include:

• The airport housed 44 employers and 1,145 jobs.
• About 212,000 people visited the airport last year.
• Those visitors supported 1,024 jobs and spent $68.9 million outside of the airport.
• About 259 jobs and $36.4 million in economic impact were created by capital improvement and construction projects at the airport during 2010.

Labels: Jobs in Mesa