Feature Image: Ryan McGinnis
The pain felt by restaurant and hotel employees who are losing their jobs soon will be felt elsewhere in the Reno-area economy, too.
Eugenia Larmore, PhD, the president of Ekay Economic Consultants Inc. in Reno, says that every dollar lost in the restaurant business in Washoe County results in an additional 69 cents of economic losses elsewhere in the economy.
These additional losses come from the so-called ripple effect, as restaurant workers spend their pay on groceries, apartments and all the other necessities of daily life.
In the hotel sector, every $1 that isn’t spent in Washoe County because of shutdowns related to the coronavirus results in lost revenues
Among the sectors of the local economy that can expect to be hit by restaurant and hotel layoffs, the economist says, are the commercial real estate firms that lease space to restaurants, electric utilities, insurance firms, media that carry advertising and providers of medical care.
Larmore says the figures are based on data generated by IMPLAN, a complex tool developed by a North Carolina company to analyze the workings of the economy.
Hotel and restaurant jobs account for about 13 percent of the workers in Washoe County — about 33,000 jobs in total in the two sectors.
Those jobs don’t pay particularly well, Larmore notes. Hotel workers make about 63 percent of the average county weekly wage of $1,007, and restaurant and bar workers make about 39 percent of the average county wage.
“Not only are these wages low, many of the employees work fewer than average hours,” she notes.
This Is Reno’s COVID-19 news coverage
County to change COVID-19 plan after rebukes from Reno, health district and school district
Washoe County will need to modify its COVID-19 reopening plan again after the health district, school district and City of Reno raised objections.
COVID-19 risk meter remains in ‘high’ range as new variant spreads through community
County health officials today said there are 67 new cases of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7 in Washoe County since its last report.
Social distancing could be relaxed May 1, capacity limits lifted by June 1
Washoe County commissioners on Tuesday agreed to a COVID-19 mitigation plan that loosens social distancing restrictions in May and business capacity limits in June.
Local doctor on a mission to vaccinate community from COVID-19 (sponsored)
SPONSORED: The office of Dr. Merritt W Dunlap, a Carson City family physician since 1999 and native Nevadan, put nearly 2,500 shots in arms since January in the fight against COVID-19.
AG: Beware of fake vaccination cards
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford warned today about fake vaccination cards and urged those who’ve shared a photo of theirs online to delete it.
RTC pilots free Uber rides program for COVID-19 vaccination appointments
The RTC Washoe Uber Pilot Program launched today offering up to four free Uber rides to get to and from COVID-19 vaccination appointments.
Governor: Nevada to fully reopen–with mask mandate–June 1
Governor Steve Sisolak today said all Nevada counties can completely open June 1, 2021. A COVID-19 mask mandate will remain in place.
Virtual COVID-19 Vaccine Town Hall, Wednesday April 14 (sponsored)
We’ve reached out to several medical experts across Northern Nevada to answer some of the most commonly asked questions about the vaccine. What is it designed to do? How can we trust it? What does it contain?
Nevada pauses use of Janssen vaccine following federal advisory
The State of Nevada today announced it will pause the use of the Janssen / Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to ensure the safety of Nevadans.
Residents urged to fill out screening questionnaire before COVID-19 vaccine appointment
Officials with Washoe County’s COVID-19 Response Team are urging locals to complete the screening questionnaire before coming to the vaccination site.
