Retail employment has fallen sharply this year due primarily to the rise of online shopping. Department stores, with their large staffs and overheads, have been the hardest hit. Layoffs may now be spreading to other retailers, including warehouse clubs and superstores.
“Retail employment has been a solid anchor for the U.S. jobs market … [but] year-to-date, that picture has changed dramatically,” wrote Robin Brooks, chief economist for the Institute of International Finance, in a June report.
The sector generated an average 200,000 jobs each year between 2014 and 2016. In 2017, however, data from January to May indicates an annualized loss of nearly 110,000 jobs. That’s a swing of 300,000 jobs from the growth years.
The retail industry employs nearly 11 percent of the total U.S. labor force, meaning that the impact of these job cuts may even outstrip the impact of manufacturing job losses, according to experts.
