National Retail Federation (NRF), world’s largest retail trade organisation headquartered at Washington D.C., USA, has revealed that the country’s retail industry noted an increase in jobs in the month of April 2018 as compared to March 2018.
During the period month under review, the retail industry reported 3,700 more jobs on the seasonally adjusted basis and 48,900 jobs on unadjusted year-over-year basis. (Automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants jobs have been excluded while calculating.)
The job increase in April has come after a monthly increase of 5,600 jobs in March. An increase of 17,200 jobs has been reported during the three-month moving average in April. All-in-all, the US added 164,000 jobs in the month.
General merchandise stores reported 7,800 jobs. However, weather-sensitive segments such clothing reported a decline of 5,300 jobs.
Average hourly earnings during the reporting period reported an increase of 4 cents – 2.6 per cent – year-over-year. The reporting period also noted a decline in unemployment rate from 4.1 per cent to 3.9 per cent, the lowest since December 2000.
According to NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz, irregular weather patterns had a little impact on numbers but overall it remained in line with the continuing growth of the economy.
Tax reform and regulatory reform seen over the past few months are expected to continue to provide traction for the economy and further job growth, he added.
However, NRF claimed that this is not the exact picture of retail jobs in the country as Labor Department include those only who work in stores. Those employed at corporate headquarters, distribution centres, call centres and innovation labs are not part of the survey. So, there can be an even better retail picture.
