Despite weak sales in November, retailers hired more workers than they did a year ago, according to a Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. survey.
Challenger, an international outplacement firm, said employment in the retail sector grew by 321,300 jobs in November, a 37 percent improvement over the same month a year ago.
In October, retailers hired 54,200 employees, bringing the total for seasonal employment up to 375,500 over two months. In October, November and December last year, employers hired 384,300 seasonal employees.
Despite the improvement, seasonal retail hiring is still well below historic levels. Challenger said that retailers added an average of 714,000 seasonal employees each year between 1999 and 2007.
