The retail industry added 24,000 workers to its ranks last month, according to the National Retail Federation. Overall, retailers have added 218,000 jobs in the last 12 months, the trade group reports. The strongest February jobs gains were in the apparel, building material and supplies, sporting goods and home/home furnishing categories.
“The strength in the February jobs report bodes well for the next few months in terms of expectations for retail sales and even more job growth in the industry,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said in the report. “As we approach spring there's good reason to believe that the optimism that we've seen thus far from businesses will continue, though wage growth remains a big question mark, potentially impacting how Americans will continue to spend their discretionary budgets.”