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E-Commerce Drives Holiday Season Hiring
Though the pace of hiring slowed overall in the U.S. last month, that wasn’t the case for package-delivery companies. Transportation related to e-commerce shored up staffing significantly in preparation for what’s expected to be a big online holiday shopping season.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that courier and messenger companies added 3,900 jobs in August, the fifth straight monthly increase. If you are looking for further proof just how much growth is transpiring as a result of e-commerce, check out the parcel sector. Rising demand for home deliveries pushed this sector to add 7,000 jobs over the final summer months, and it has expanded by more than 30,000 jobs since August 2016. Even the warehousing and storage sector added 900 jobs in August.
Meanwhile, the National Retail Federation said retail industry employment saw a modest decline in August, decreasing 900 jobs from July. The number excludes automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants.
Retailers and manufacturers stocked up on inventories, including shipments of auto parts, furniture and back-to-school goods, all of which drove robust imports at U.S. ports. The U.S. Census Bureau says e-commerce accounted for just 8.9% of U.S. retail sales in Q2 2017, roughly $111.5 billion. That may tell just a part of the story though, since online sales are growing far faster than in-store sales.
The National Retail Federation reports that 46% of parents planned to shop online for back-to-school supplies. When asked where they planned to make holiday gift purchases, research firm Fung Global Retail & Technology says 82% of respondents to an August survey expect to buy gifts online, while 77% plan to do so in physical stores.
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