New Jersey's casino employment picture is still evolving.  A new Stockton University study finds one in five Atlantic City casino jobs have fallen victim to closings since the year 2014, and no one knows what will happen in AC if North Jersey gets casinos.

Roger Gros, publisher of Global Gaming Business Magazine, says the casino job drain in Atlantic City may not be over.

"If we see the Taj Mahal close, as Carl Ichan said it will on Oct. 10, we will see 3,000 fewer jobs.  If there is approval for North Jersey casinos, it will shrink even more."

He also says there are new casinos opening in Massachusetts and Maryland in the next couple of years.  And there is a casino from upstate New York, at Tioga Downs, coming into town to hold a job fair next week.

Gros says the good news for laid-off AC casino workers is that they are the most sought after at job fairs for other casinos.

"If you have Atlantic City experience, you are very, very valuable to other jurisdictions because you have had experience in probably one of the busiest jurisdictions in the world.  So your experience is very valued."

Recent reports from the state Division of Gaming Enforcement showed Atlantic City's casinos increased their revenue in July by almost 7 percent over July of last year, so the news is not all bad.

"The online casino revenue has really picked up over the past 15 months, so I think that you have seen Atlantic City stabilize, and absent any more competition in North Jersey, I think that the casinos that are remaining will survive and thrive."

He says another big casino industry recovery stumbling block in Atlantic City, besides nearby competition, is the casino union.

"For Atlantic City to survive, people all have to be on the same page, and the union clearly is not on the same page as everybody else in the city.  The Taj Mahal is closing simply because of irrational union leadership, putting 3,000 people out of work, when they really only represent a thousand people there."

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