Retailers added 156,100 jobs in October, an upward revision of 18,900 jobs, and 466,400 jobs in November, according to an analysis of non-seasonally adjusted data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from global outplacement and executive and business coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
October’s total is 34.7% higher than last October, when 115,900 jobs were added. It is the highest October total since 2015, when 183,300 jobs were added.
Meanwhile, November’s total is 5.7% lower than the same month last year. So far this season, retailers have added 622,500 jobs, 1.9% higher than the 610,700 added through this point last season. It is the highest October-November hiring total since 2012, when 624,100 jobs were added.
“Retailers predicted a strong season, and demand has not softened through November. Even with slow December hiring, we will see more jobs added than in 2018. In fact, retailers could potentially add over 700,000 Retail jobs this season, something we have not seen since 2015,” said Andrew Challenger, Vice President of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
Jobs added in Transportation and Warehousing were revised down by 7,400 to 36,300. This sector added 119,400 jobs in November for a total of 155,700 so far this season. That is 5.1% lower than October-November last year, when 164,100 jobs were added.
