Apparel Online India Magazine May 2nd Issue 2018 | Page 13

RETAIL CURRENT
US retail industry reports over 6K fewer
jobs in March 2018: NRF
The National Retail Federation
(NRF), world’s largest retail
trade organisation headquartered
in Washington D.C., USA, has
revealed that the country’s retail
industry noted a decline in jobs
in the month of March 2018 as
compared to February 2018.
During the period under review,
the retail industry reported 6,400
fewer jobs on the seasonally
adjusted basis but it increased
30,800 unadjusted year-over-year.
Automobile dealers, gasoline
stations and restaurants jobs have
been excluded while calculating.
The decline in March has come
soon after an increase of 46,400
jobs in the previous month. A
moving average increase in jobs
in March reported an increase
of 14,200 jobs. Notably, the retail
industry reported 7,11,000 job
openings in January, the highest
monthly figure ever. The drop in jobs
was majorly reported at general
merchandise stores, down 12,600;
clothing and clothing accessory
stores, down 7,300; sporting goods
stores, up 1 per cent; and grocery
stores, down 3,200.
“Despite being weaker than
February, the trend is in the right
direction. In view of weather
condition, Easter and Passover
this time of year can be quirky,”
stated NRF Chief Economist Jack
Kleinhenz. In spite of the dip in
jobs in March, employment in
retail is still substantially high,
he added. Also, the unemployment
rate in March remained unchanged
at 4.1 per cent for the sixth
straight month.
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