As consumer confidence rises amid the economic recovery, more job opportunities are being created in the retail sector, according to the experts who follow the industry.
Retail hiring over the 2012 holiday season was the industry’s highest in six years, and retailers are continuing their employment growth through the winter and into the spring, the Associated Press reports. In fact, retail hiring grew strongly in early 2013, with employers adding 24,000 new retail sector jobs in February alone, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Career Counselors agree that this is a great time for job seekers to get aggressive in their searches for retail jobs. The sector has added 252,000 new jobs in the past 12 months, and economists say that growth should continue through the rest of this year.
UPI reports a Manpower Employment Outlook Survey finds “positive hiring plans” in every state, as well as Washington , D.C. and Puerto Rico. That translates to further growth in the spring and summer months to come.
Rising consumer confidence also is helping to create retail sector job growth, with household income growing $1.1 trillion in the last quarter of 2012. More household income means more money spent at retailers, and stores are staffing up to meet that increase in demand.
“[C]onsumer debt rose at an annualized 6.5 percent pace, evidence of growing confidence among households,” Reuters reports.