While national forecast looks bleak, retail already has added more than 600 jobs.
View full sizeLast year, retailers hired about 1,100 people to fill jobs for the holiday season. The forecast this year is for 1,500 to 2,000 hires to take place.Syracuse, NY -- Central New York is entering prime time for holiday hiring, and a New York State Department of Labor economist said today he expects local stores to hire almost 1,000 more workers this year than last.
“It’s going to be a good year,” said Roger Evans, principal economist with the state DOL.
And now’s the time to apply for one of those jobs, he said. This is prime time for getting a retail job as stores gear up to handle the increased business around the holidays, Evans said.
In September, the region already had 600 more retail jobs than the same month last year. Based on that number, Evans said he expects local stores will likely add 1,500 to 2,000 additional workers in October, November and December.
Last year the region added 1,100 retail jobs during the holiday hiring season of October, November and December, he said.
The vast majority of the workers hired will be for temporary, part-time jobs.
The local economy has begun to turn around, although it’s not yet out of a recession, Evans said. The unemployment rate has declined over the last five months and private sector payrolls have increased, he said.
“We’re nowhere near out of the recession, but we’re turning around and that bodes well for the holiday season,” Evans said.