Seasonal Hiring Offers Little Reprieve for Labor Market Woes

Plenty of Americans are expected to pour into stores and fill online carts this holiday shopping season. Fewer may be able to pick up seasonal work to support that bonanza, Emma Ockerman reported for Yahoo Finance.

Seasonal hiring plans through October were at their lowest since the global outplacement firm began tracking them in 2012.

As layoff announcements make waves and the unemployment rate creeps upward, the usual holiday hiring spree appears muted this year, with data from multiple sources suggesting hiring plans may be at their lowest levels in more than a decade.

Challenger, Gray & Christmas said in its most recent labor report that seasonal hiring plans through October were at their lowest since the global outplacement firm began tracking them in 2012.

The National Retail Federation, a trade group, also said in a press call earlier this month that while strong consumer spending is expected to persist through the holiday season, plans to bring on extra staff could be at “the lowest level in more than 15 years.”

Retailers were expected to hire 265,000 to 365,000 seasonal workers, compared to 442,000 in 2024.