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Retail Hiring Grew in October

Department stores and discounters gained, but specialty retailers cut back

Published

11 years ago

November 11, 2013

steve kaufman

Retail hiring grew at a steady pace in October, according to the U.S. Labor Department report.

The overall retail employment gain was 44,400 hires, driven by department stores and discounters. Department stores added 900 jobs in anticipation of the holiday shopping season.

However, specialty apparel and accessories stores dropped 12,500 jobs, declining for the second straight month. “It’s not totally inconsistent with the weak sales that we are seeing there,” Scott Hoyt, director of consumer economics at Moody’s Analytics, told Women’s Wear Daily. “They [specialty apparel and accessories] posted sales declines in both August and September. I think the trend in sales growth is definitely unfavorable there.”

Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist at the National Retail Federation, told WWD, “While retailers and businesses are hiring, consumers remain cautious, but we remain steadfast in our belief that consumer confidence and spending will improve.”

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