Prospective South Coast employees fill out applications online Aug. 13 during a job fair at the Orleans Arena. Some casino workers displaced by Hurricane Katrina could end up at the South Coast. Photo by K.M. Cannon/REVIEW-JOURNAL FILE PHOTO.

It could be months before Hurricane Katrina's human and economic tolls are tallied.

However, some local industry analysts say Southern Nevada's labor market may grow as Katrina's costs reveal themselves.

Steve Bottfeld, a local analyst with consumer-research company Marketing Solutions, said the Las Vegas market could begin to see noticeable in-migration from the Gulf Coast within 60 days.

"A number of people, particularly midlevel executives, have jobs that aren't going to come back very quickly in the areas hit by the hurricane," Bottfeld said. "They've literally been wiped out. They have to find someplace where they can get a job quickly. There are only two places in the United States that have incredible job growth, and Las Vegas is one of them."

Joe Reel, an economist with the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation agreed.

"We would expect movement certainly within 60 to 90 days," Reel said. "Las Vegas is known as a hot job market with lots of opportunities, so it would certainly be attractive to workers (from the Gulf Coast). We have lots of openings in the gaming industry and we still have nursing and teacher shortages, so we could see where those industries might benefit."

Phoenix, the nation's second-fastest growing job market, has about half the employment growth rate of Las Vegas, Bottfeld said. Statistics from the state's Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation show the local economy is growing at more than 7 percent a year.

Jeff Waddoups, an economics professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said Hurricane Katrina could also affect relocation decisions among residents in other regions.

"A lot of people who live in the Gulf Coast probably live there because they like warm weather. This whole spate of hurricanes (including last year's Ivan) may cause people to rethink where they live," Waddoups said. "It might also cause people who were considering moving to Florida or Louisiana to rethink that decision and come to the desert Southwest instead."

That could mean a larger local labor pool in coming months and a resulting downward trend in wages, Waddoups said.

The Gulf Coast is lined with casinos, so its economy has a heavy tourism emphasis that parallels the Las Vegas economy. The Mississippi Gulf Coast has 14,000 casino workers, said Larry Gregory, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, and New Orleans is one of the nation's busiest convention markets. That could lead hospitality workers with no jobs in the Southeast to head west in the quest for resort-sector positions.

Rob Stillwell, a spokesman for Boyd Gaming Corp., said company officials have not yet discussed transferring workers at the company's Gulf Coast properties to Las Vegas.

"Right now, we're just trying to reach out to our employees, and they're really more worried about finding their families, finding food and getting situated," Stillwell said.

Boyd has accounted for only about half of its 1,000 employees in the Gulf region, Stillwell said. Of the staff members who have contacted the company, some employees "have expressed a desire to work immediately, and one of the benefits of being such a large company is that we can place them right away," he said.

Boyd has 15,000 employees in Las Vegas. The company will add 2,400 more when its $600 million South Coast casino opens at Las Vegas Boulevard South and Sunset Road early next year. South Coast hopefuls have sent 1,300 r sum s to Boyd, and the company is holding a job fair on Labor Day at the South Coast employment center at 980 Kelly Johnson Drive, near Paradise and Sunset roads.

"To some degree, gaming is so specialized that you would see some (relocation) eventually, but who's to say how and when the rebuilding of the Gulf area might emerge? We're still trying to assess the damage. (Moving employees) would be the next conversation following providing relief."

The Clark County School District also has not worked to attract professionals from the Southeast. The district had a shortage of nearly 300 teachers at the beginning of the school year last month.

"At this time, we have no formal plan in place," said Pat Nelson, communications director for the district. "However, we would certainly welcome inquiries from anyone who wants to relocate and is qualified for the positions we have open. As always, we have staff ready to assist in any way we can with the application process."

Brad Lee, state health officer, said it was too soon to determine whether medical professionals such as nurses and doctors would move from the Gulf Coast to Las Vegas in search of work. But he said the city's arid climate could appeal to residents of the Southeast.

"Nevada has a much drier climate than New Orleans, and certainly, you are above sea level as opposed to below it," Lee said. "The kind of natural disaster that befell New Orleans is different from the kind of natural disasters that befall Nevada. But relative to health care professionals, it's way too early to speculate whether they will move here. What we have to do is try to support those folks during this disaster."

One local employment sector may lose jobs because of Katrina: construction.

Reconstruction along the Gulf Coast will generate thousands of jobs and draw workers from an already tight local construction labor force. That in turn could force housing prices upward as home builders pay more to keep employees and subcontractors on the job. Bottfeld said the trend would be keenly felt in the single-family home sector, where most builders don't own their subcontractors.