Challenger: retail hiring in October strongest in 14 years

The nation’s retail employment grew by 159,000 in October, which marks the “strongest start” to seasonal hiring for the holidays in 14 years.

That’s according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data that Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., a Chicago–based global-outplacement firm, analyzed.

The 159,500 net new jobs in retail last month marks a 6.7 percent increase compared to the 149,400 seasonal employees that retailers added in October 2012.

It was the most new hires in the first month of the annual holiday hiring period since 1999, when retail employment expanded by 172,200 in October, Challenger said in a news release.

The “strong start bodes well” for a holiday-hiring season that stretches from October through December, with the “heaviest” retail-workforce additions, typically occurring in November, Challenger said.

Retailers added nearly 752,000 new jobs during the three-month hiring period in 2012, the most since 2000 when they added more than 788,000 workers during the final three months of the year.

Last year’s holiday hiring “binge” brought retail employment in the sector to more than 15.5 million in December, the month in which retail employment generally reaches its annual peak.

That was the highest number of retail workers in December since 2007 when employment reached more than 16.1 million.

“Strong” October hiring doesn’t necessarily mean that holiday hiring will surpass last year’s level, but it is certainly a “good sign,” John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in the news release.

“We have seen steady increases in the number of seasonal workers hired since 2008, when recession-ravaged retailers added a paltry 324,900 seasonal workers in the final quarter of the year. Last year, holiday hiring returned to pre-recession levels. Actually, 2012 returned to pre-2001-recession levels, as retailers turned in the strongest hiring numbers since 2000,” Challenger said.

To this point, the 16-day federal government shutdown doesn’t appear to have had any impact on retail-hiring plans, he noted.

The firm has seen several major national chains, including Walmart (NYSE: WMT), Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT), Macy’s (NYSE: M), Kohl’s (NYSE: KSS), and J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) announce “fairly significant” hiring plans, Challenger said.

Online retailer, Amazon.com, is reportedly adding 70,000 holiday workers, up from last year’s 50,000, he added.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com