Gambling Losses

Although one-quarter of the adult population visited a casino last year, the industry still took a hit.

Casino revenue and jobs fell in 2008, according to the American Gaming Association, with revenue down 4.7 percent and jobs down 1 percent.

“People are just taking shorter trips for fewer days, and spending less,” said Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., the group’s president, adding that 60 percent of people who went to casinos last year said they spent less money there.

However, “There seems to be a feeling that things may have bottomed out with consumer spending. Maybe we’ve taken the worst of the hit.”