Job Spectrum

Whilst still above downturn levels, retail recruitment edged lower in May, based on the Kronos Retail Labor Index. The index follows and reports on the present state of the supply and demand sides of the labor market in the United States retail sector. The June report contains data for May 2011.

Based on the Index, retail recruitment declined to 3.5 % in May from 3.7 % in April 2011. The retailers from 14,625 places all over the U.S. that make up the Kronos data sample registered 38,335 hires in May 2011, down from a revised 39,656 hires in April 2011.

From a job seeker viewpoint, the Index implies that the amount of requests received by traders or retailers in the Kronos sample increased in May 2011, to 1,091,107 from a modified 1,085,646 in April 2011, all on a seasonally accustomed basis. Withholding is getting better, a sign of augmented employer confidence. The sixty day retention rate increased to 84.7 % in January from 84.1% in December.

“The Kronos Retail Labor Index was almost unaffected in May at 3.5 % and has remained between three percent and four percent for 10 of the past 11 months. This range characterizes comparatively good hire surroundings, with almost thirty fresh applicants for each hire. Recruiting did edge lesser in May, but lingered strong compared to a year before levels. Retailers in the Kronos sample recruited almost 22 percent more employees in May 2011 than they did a year before.”