Donald Trump’s casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey lost jobs at a greater rate than rivals in the beachside town, according to a new study.
Trump-branded casinos ranked "the worst" among their competitors in terms of jobs over the span of 14 years, Temple University law professor Jonathan Lipson determined in an analysis published earlier this week.
Trump casinos lost some 7,400 jobs between 1997 and 2010, amounting to an average of 900 job losses per casino more than competitors. The rate is 37 percent higher than any other Atlantic City gambling facility across the same period of time, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
Trump’s campaign denied that the analysis provided evidence that the real estate mogul was a poor casino operator, but rather that the entities faced challenges given that three Trump casinos were competing in the same market. When financial times became shaky, the Trump campaign said that set-up "turned out to be a disadvantage."
Trump’s three casinos filed for individual bankruptcy protection in the early 90s, consolidating them into one company. Trump’s casinos then filed for bankruptcy three more times between 2004 and 2014.
The last bankruptcy filing forced the company to sell one of its casinos while closing down another. The Trump Taj Mahal, which is set to close next month, is the last Atlantic City casino bearing the GOP nominee’s name.
While Trump’s casinos repeatedly requested bankruptcy protection from creditors, the Republican nominee raked in at least $135 million from his gambling venues, according to a separate review of financial documents conducted by the Journal.
Trump campaign spokesman Hope Hicks said the number marked "a tiny fraction" of the amount the business mogul made in Atlantic City.