Retail Hiring Falls 14% In October And November

Retail job gains in October and November totaled 521,800, 14% fewer than the 604,300 retail jobs added during the period last year, according to data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. In November alone, retail employment grew by 371,500 but was 9.3% below last year, the lowest November increase since 2010. "As more and more shoppers move online, there is less need for extra workers in the brick-and-mortar stores," said John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. In September, the group anticipated a shift towards hiring focused on e-commerce operations. Since then, retailers like Macys Inc. have said the holiday hiring will have a focus on online sales.