RETAIL INDUSTRY JOBS DECREASE IN DECEMBER

While the economy added a total of 148,000 jobs in December, according to the Labor Department, retail industry employment decreased by 20,200 jobs in December from November, according to the National Retail Federation. The NRF added that preliminary reports indicate that retailers hired 565,000 seasonal employees during November and December.

Overall, average hourly earnings increased by 2.5 percent year-over-year, and the unemployment rate remained at 4.1 percent, unchanged from November

“Retail numbers were lower than we expected, but these are seasonally adjusted figures and can be revised,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said. “We have to be careful not to judge the health of the industry based on initial employment reports. We saw stronger retail spending during the holiday season and we will need to assess further once we see final holiday spending results from the Census Bureau next week. Since seasonal factors used by the Labor Department draw on the history of monthly employment changes, we are not certain that the seasonal factors currently used are adjusting for the transformation occurring in the retail industry,” Kleinhenz said.

Kleinhenz also noted that retail job numbers reported by the Labor Department count only employees who work in stores while excluding retail workers in other parts of the business such as corporate headquarters, distribution centers, call centers and innovation labs.