Blaming the worsening recession and its impact on the gaming industry, the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa has laid off 95 people.

The reduction, the first of its kind in the casino's history, equates to 5 percent of the casino's work force.

The job cuts involved dealers or table-game operators.

“It is unfortunate that we have to reduce the work force, but the economy shows no immediate signs of improvement,” Dual Cooper, Morongo Casino general manager, said in a statement. “We hope to be able to recall employees as conditions improve.”

The Morongo Band of Mission Indians tribal chairman Robert Martin was traveling and could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Tribal officials of the $250 million resort property along Interstate 10 near Cabazon said in a written release that the action was taken only after a series of programs were put in place to curb costs and preserve as many jobs as possible.

Limits were set on management pay. Hiring slowed.

Morongo spokesman Fred Muir said about 300 positions at the 3,000-slot casino have been lost through attrition. The casino had also closed 28 table games in a reorganization, but kept on all of the associated dealers and operators.

“We kept everyone on to see what would shake out,'' he said, noting the layoff decision was made when the economy failed to improve.

Indian casinos across California, which pressed for added slots and unfurled blueprints for high-rise hotels when the economy was steaming, have been rolling back in recent months.

Minimum bets have been lowered on some tables. Slots with penny-antes have rolled in. Drink, food and room specials have been put in place.

The Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians laid off 400 of its 4,700 employees at its $262 million casino resort in Temecula in July, and on Thursday noted no plans for any more layoffs at this time.

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, which operates the $300 million Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa in Rancho Mirage and the Spa Resort Casino in Palm Springs, has not had any major layoffs or a moratorium, spokes- woman Nancy Conrad said.

“But we certainly are aware the economy is making us take steps to be more cognizant of how we're running our operations,'' she said.

The Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, which opened its $200million Fantasy Springs Casino Resort in Indio, soon after Morongo's opening in 2004, has imposed layoffs before: Roughly 50 employees in 2005. But John James, chairman of the tribe, said layoffs are not in the wind at Fantasy.

“The whole idea is we'll let attrition take care of it,'' he said, noting a new routine for some casino workers the tribe adopted a few weeks ago. Primarily, it involves a four-day week, with one on-call day on the weekend. If a crowd shows up, and the worker is called in, overtime is paid.

“It makes up for the day they lost,'' James said.

Dave Seufert, general manager of Red Earth Casino near Salton City, said the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians has been monitoring its level of business and made some adjustments over the months, but no one has been laid off.

Lower gasoline prices have helped, he said.

“We have had some positions we did not refill,'' Seufert said, noting the workload in the 349-slot casino was distributed among the 132-person work force. “Business is OK. It's not spectacular, and we work hard to satisfy all our guests, so we are not anticipating any large cutbacks or layoffs.”