Americans’ confidence in landing a job if they lose their current one dropped sharply last month, according to a report that especially doesn’t bode well for Las Vegas in a key way.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released survey results Monday showing that if workers lost their job, the perceived probability of finding a new one fell to 44.9 percent of respondents.

That’s down from 50.7 percent in July and the lowest level since this tracking began in mid-2013, according to the New York Fed.

The results are part of a nationally representative survey of consumer sentiment.

The weakened confidence in future job prospects was broad-based across age, education and income groups, but it was “most pronounced” for those with at most a high school education, according to a news release on the findings.

Las Vegas’ casino-heavy, tourism-dependent economy has a high concentration of service-sector jobs. It also has a lower share of college-educated residents than the country overall.

In Clark County, 28.7 percent of residents who are 25 and up have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 36.2 percent nationally, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Looking for work

With tourism slumping this year, Southern Nevada’s economy is hitting the brakes, and the local jobless rate is among the highest in the country for big metro areas.

The Las Vegas-area’s unemployment rate in July, 6 percent, was tied for third highest in the nation among the 50-plus metro areas with at least 1 million people, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Employment totals in Las Vegas’ leisure and hospitality industry are still above pre-pandemic levels, federal data shows.

But overall, the unemployment rate consists of more than just layoffs, according to David Schmidt, chief economist with the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.

Nevada has a high share of people who are out of work for other reasons, including people who quit their jobs, or entered the labor pool for the first time and are trying to find a job, or weren’t working for a while and are now looking again, he recently explained.

‘Starting to see some pullback’

Southern Nevada relies heavily on outsiders traveling here to spend big eating, drinking, gambling, partying and going to shows and conventions to fuel the economy. But amid a series of financial headwinds — and as President Donald Trump’s trade wars spark widespread economic anxiety — fewer people are visiting America’s casino capital.

There has also been growing frustration over resort fees, parking charges, food and drink costs, and other expenses that can give visitors sticker shock and make Las Vegas a pricey place to visit.

Around 22.6 million people visited Las Vegas this year through July, down 8 percent, or a drop of almost 2 million people, from the same seven-month stretch last year, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

In July alone, visitor volume fell 12 percent from the same month last year.

Casino operators and others have been rolling out price breaks in recent months to boost business. But if someone feels less secure in their finances or future job prospects, not taking a trip to Vegas can be an easy way to save cash.

“We’re starting to see some pullback in the Las Vegas market, there’s no doubt about it,” Brian Gordon, a principal with Las Vegas consulting firm Applied Analysis, recently said.

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