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Retailers likely to reduce hiring for holiday workers
Holiday hiring by U.S. retailers may fall about 6.9 percent this year as shaky consumer confidence and more efficient store practices reduce demand for seasonal workers, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
Retailers will hire about 700,000 temporary staff this year, down from 751,800 last year, the Chicago-based employment consulting firm said. Last year’s hiring was a 12-year high and up 14 percent from 2011, the firm said.
The forecast signals retailers are approaching the holiday season with caution after second-quarter results at companies from Macy’s Inc. to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. showed shoppers were restraining purchases on nonessential items. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment this month fell to the lowest level since April.
Stores traditionally start hiring for the holiday season, which starts on Black Friday the day after Thanksgiving and ends at Christmas, in October.