An analysis of Labor Department data by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. found that employment in the retail sector grew by 321,300 in November. That is a 37% improvement over November of last year, when just 233,700 workers were added to retail payrolls. This increase comes despite the fact that November retail sales were the weakest in 35 years, according to some reports.
Including October hires, retailers have now added a total of 375,500 seasonal workers as of Nov. 30. That is nearly as many as the 384,300 added in October, November and December of last year.
"Holiday hiring is definitely stronger than a year ago, but it remains clear that retailers are still reluctant to hire," said John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "Even if we see total holiday retail gains of 400,000 to 450,000 this year, it would be well short of the 714,000 seasonal jobs added on average between 1999 and 2007. Even in 2001, in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, the retail sector added more than 585,000 extra workers in the final three months of the year."

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