Retail holiday hiring season comes late

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By Michelle J. Nealy THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Cash-strapped consumers worried about their jobs have caused retailers to put holiday hiring decisions on hold while they watch for signs of life from shoppers.

The reluctance of retailers to hire even temporary employees for the holidays is contributing to the monumental problems of unemployed people trying to find work.

The number of job openings nationwide fell to a nine-year low in August, according to the Labor Department. The 2.39 million jobs that were available is down by half from a peak set in July 2007.

"Retailers used to do much more hiring at the beginning of October," said John A. Challenger, chief executive officerof Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., a human resources consulting firm. "This year, retailers are holding back hiring until they see the people in the stores, so the hiring surge may come later than normal."

The collapse in the job market, in a vicious circle, has made consumers reluctant to spend, which leads to even less hiring by retailers and the chain of wholesalers, importers, truckers and other businesses that feed into retail.

A slight thawing of retail sales seen in August and September did little to change the picture. The National Retail Federation (NRF) continues to forecast a 1 percent decline in Christmas sales this year.

"Retail sales are rising -- but not enough to trigger the hiring of additional employees," said William C. Dunkelberg, chief economist at the National Federation of Independent Business.

Retailers added 384,300 jobs from October through December last year -- roughly half the 720,800 retail hires from the comparable period in 2007, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"Holiday hiring might improve, slightly, over last year, but only because 2008 saw the lowest seasonal employment growth in nearly 20 years," Mr. Challenger said. "With millions of Americans out of work and many more simply cutting back, few retailers will take the risk of eating into slim profits with extra workers."

A broad range of people apply for seasonal retail jobs, said Daniel Butler, vice president of retail operations for the NRF. "Seasonal hires are usually people who work full time and are looking to supplement their income," he said, suggesting that they, too, could be affected by a squeeze in hiring.