The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
CT casino towns rolling snake eyes in coronavirus economy
The eastern Connecticut towns surrounding the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos have absorbed the biggest brunt of layoffs in the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, with a third or more of Norwich residents filing initial claims for unemployment benefits.
The Connecticut Department of Labor published detailed jobless claims data this week for cities and towns statewide, dating back to before the March 10 emergency order by Gov. Ned Lamont that restricted or closed outright a large chunk of the state economy.
The town-by-town data is preliminary, with DOL still processing claims that have been filed since the end of March and weeding out some that represent duplicate submissions. DOL began processing applications for unemployment assistance from selfemployed individuals on Thursday, which could lead to an additional spike in overall numbers. The U.S. Department of Labor is scheduled to give its latest employment estimates next Friday.
“The best way I can look at this right now, is that ... if I’m a lifeguard at Hammonasset Beach used to seeing two-to-three-foot waves, when we see a wave coming in that’s 20 feet, we have no perspective,” said Donald Klepper-Smith, an economist with DataCore Partners in New Haven. “If we talk about a job loss of 2 million being the greatest that we’ve had, a 20 million loss is an economic tsunami the likes of which we have not seen.”
The unemployment claims suggest that if eastern Connecticut has yet to see coronavirus cases spike, it is incurring a bigger blow economically as ground zero for job losses. Of the state’s municipalities where DOL has recorded the largest numbers of jobless claims as a percentage of their working populations, 11 of those 13 towns are located within 13 miles of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun.
Multiple cities and towns in the Naugatuck River valley have seen job losses slightly elevated among residents, as well. DOL has received unemployment claims from Ansonia, Derby and Waterbury that equate to between 14 percent and 17 percent of residents holding jobs on the eve of the crisis, with those percentages likely to inflate further as claims processing continues.
Of major cities statewide, Hartford had the highest rate of jobless claims at 14 percent of its working population, with Bridgeport seeing the largest number of claims at more than 8,600 equating to 13 percent of its residents with jobs on the eve of the pandemic.
DOL has processed claims representing just over one in every 10 workers in Stamford, Norwalk and Danbury, with New Haven at 9 percent but several adjacent municipalities seeing higher rates.
Faring best have been Fairfield County’s Gold Coast towns like Greenwich, Darien and New Canaan, all with initial unemployment claims below 7 percent of their working residents. Several towns in Litchfield County have been even more insulated, with the exception of tiny Canaan which saw a spike in claims.
No Connecticut municipality took any single hit like Norwich in the week following the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun closures, as more than 3,700 residents filed for unemployment. Bridgeport as been the only other city to top the 2,600 mark for initial unemployment claims in any single week, for each of the last two weeks of March.
On Wednesday, the day before Lamont confirmed May 20 as the target date for a phased reopening of businesses that have been subject to closures, Foxwoods stated it is developing what it called “a strategic reopening plan” that will include “safe and social distancing guidelines” for its properties. The casinos closed on March 17, while canceling concerts or postponing them to later this year or beyond.
In addition to the jobs they support, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun provide a significant stream of revenue to state coffers, with Lamont stating Friday that the state is currently forecasting a $2.4 billion budgetary deficit for the coming fiscal year as a result of coronavirus closures.
The question is how quickly the casinos core clientele will return — and whether they will be willing to spend as much in the past given the shock of the past few months.
“I think you get a sense — as you listen to the complexity of public health and job openings and individuals’ budgets and the state budget — how we are trying to weave this together in a way that gets our economy going again,” Lamont said Friday morning. “It will never get going again until people feel confident about public health. Hopefully we’re getting that right.”
In addition to the jobs they support, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun provide a significant stream of revenue to state coffers, with Lamont stating Friday that the state is currently forecasting a $2.4 billion budgetary deficit for the coming fiscal year as a result of coronavirus closures.