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Retail Adds Roughly 37,000 Jobs in February

Despite ongoing labor shortages, retail jobs beat February 2020 levels by 104,000 employees.

Published

2 years ago

March 8, 2022

INSTORE Staff

Retail trade employment grew by 37,000 employees in February, reports Footwear News and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Despite ongoing labor shortages across the industry, there was a 6000-job gain in home and furniture stores, 12,000 in garden supply stores and building materials, and a 5000 gain at gas stations. Overall, the amount of added jobs beat February 2020 levels by 104,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate for February was 3.8 percent, down from 4 percent in January. A total of 4.2 million people said they were unable to work in February due to pandemic-related reasons or closed businesses, which was down from 6 million reporting similar reasons in January.

In recent months, many retailers are working to increase wages for hourly workers as well as grow healthcare benefit offerings.

When There’s No Succession Plan, Call Wilkerson

Bob Wesley, owner of Robert C. Wesley Jewelers in Scottsdale, Ariz., was a third-generation jeweler. When it was time to enjoy life on the other side of the counter, he weighed his options. His lease was nearing renewal time and with no succession plan, he decided it was time to call Wilkerson. There was plenty of inventory to sell and at first, says Wesley, he thought he might try to manage a sale himself. But he’s glad he didn’t. “There’s no way I could have done this as well as Wilkerson,” he says. Wilkerson took responsibility for the entire event, with every detail — from advertising to accounting — done, dusted and managed by the Wilkerson team. “It’s the complete package,” he says of the Wilkerson method of helping jewelers to easily go on to the next phase of their lives. “There’s no way any retailer can duplicate what they’ve done.”