Red Hawk casino, held back by the sour economy, has produced disappointing results in its first few months of operation and has scaled back its staffing levels, the company that manages the casino said today.

Lyle Berman, chief executive at Lakes Entertainment Inc. in Minneapolis, said in an interview that Red Hawk employment has been reduced to about 1,500 full-time equivalent workers. The Shingle Springs casino employed about 1,700 full-time equivalents at first.

He said he wasn't aware of any layoffs; the reductions have been carried out through attrition. But he added that more cutbacks are possible.

Lakes Entertainment today reported its first quarter financial results. Although it didn't go into financial detail about Red Hawk, Berman's comments represented the first glimpse about the performance of the casino since it opened in December.

"We are getting as many people as we expected," he said on a conference call with investment analysts. "We're bringing in lots of bodies. We're still not getting the gaming revenue." Lakes is tweaking the casino's mix of slot machines, which bring in the vast majority of the casino's revenue, he said.

"The slot revenue hasn't been as high as we thought it would," he said in the interview.

The sluggishness at Red Hawk mirrors the slump hitting the casino industry nationwide. Thunder Valley in Lincoln said this week it has laid off nearly 100 workers, while Lake Tahoe's Horizon resort said it is eliminating table games and laying off 75 workers.