‘Difficult to Draw Conclusions’ From 18,000 Retail Jobs Lost in October, Says NRF
Retail industry employment declined by 18,000 jobs in October, the National Retail Federation reported Friday, citing U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, also released Friday by the Labor Department. The number excludes car dealers, gas stations and restaurants, said the…
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trade group. Though Labor Department data showed the overall economy added 261,000 jobs in October, retail employment was down, “but it is difficult to draw conclusions because the jobs data is still distorted by the aftermath of the recent hurricanes,” it said. “The storms have caused some consumers to defer discretionary spending,” it said. But retailers “are on the verge of adding half a million or more temporary workers” for the holiday selling season, it said. NRF also thinks the Labor Department’s retail job numbers give an inaccurate “picture” of the retail industry “because they 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,” it said. For example, the economy added 3,100 warehouse and storage jobs in October over September that "do not count as retail jobs even if the workers are employed by retailers,” it said.