Headlines

U.S. Jobs Market Unexpectedly Strong

But employment in retail sector remained stagnant in September.

Published

7 months ago

October 8, 2023

INSTORE Staff

While the overall U.S. job market grew strongly last month, retail payrolls remained unchanged. PHOTOGRAPHY: bernardbodo/iStock.com

Total nonfarm payroll employment in the U.S. rose by 336,000 in September, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.8 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. As a result, the job market – whose uptick was the largest since January – was variously characterized by major publications as “booming,” (USA Today); “surging,” (The Wall Street Journal); and “sizzling,” (Reuters).

The biggest gains occurred in leisure and hospitality; government; health care; professional, scientific and technical services; and social assistance. However, employment showed little change over the month in the following sectors: retail, mining, quarrying, oil and gas extraction, construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, financial activities and other services.

“The U.S. labor market clearly still has some gas in the tank,” Nick Bunker, head of economic research for job site Indeed.com, told USA Today.

She Wanted to Spend More Time with Her Kids. She Called Wilkerson.

Your children are precious. More precious than gold? Absolutely! Just ask Lesley Ann Davis, owner of Lesley Ann Jewels, an independent jewelry store that — until the end of 2023 — had quite a following in Houston, Texas. To spend more time with her four sons, all in high school, she decided to close her store. Luckily, she was familiar with Wilkerson and called them as soon as she knew she wanted to move on to bigger, better and more family-focused things. Was she happy with her decision? Yes, she was. Says Davis, “Any owner looking to make that life change, looking to retire, looking to close, looking for a pause in their career, I would recommend Wilkerson. Hands down!”