Kronos Retail Labor Index Shows Many Seeking Retail Jobs, Few Getting Hired
CHELMSFORD, Mass., March 7, 2011 — Kronos Incorporated today announced the March release of the Kronos Retail Labor Index™, a family of metrics and indices that analyze the relationship between the demand and supply sides of the labor market within the U.S. retail sector, and provide a distinct and early indicator of the overall state of the economy. The March report includes data for February 2011. The report is available on the Kronos Retail Labor Index website.
News Facts
- The Kronos Retail Labor Index: (This metric is defined as the percentage of job applications that result in a hiring, normalized within a scale of 0 to 100. A level of 3.0 percent means that for every 100 applications received, three hirings occurred). The Kronos Retail Labor Index decreased significantly this month from 4.20 percent in January to 3.08 percent in February, a 26.57 percent drop.
- Retail Hiring Level: The retailers representing 27,034 distributed locations across the U.S. that make up the Kronos® data sample recorded 36,869 hirings (on a seasonally adjusted basis) in February, a slight 0.70 percent decrease from the January 2011 seasonally adjusted figure of 37,129. The February 2011 figure represents a very small 0.04 percent increase over the 36,882 hirings that occurred in February 2010.
- Retail Applications Level: The supply of applications increased significantly to a seasonally adjusted level of 1,195,250 in February. The February figure represented a 35.23 percent increase over the 883,843 applications processed in January 2011, and a 20.21 percent decrease from the 1,497,996 applications processed in February 2010.
- Retail Employee Retention Rate: Employee retention, the percentage of employees remaining on the job 60 days or more, was 83.50 percent in February 2011, a decrease of 1.47 percent from January 2011, continuing a slight downward trend first seen in January 2011.
Supporting Quotes
- Dr. Robert Yerex, chief economist, Kronos Incorporated
"With more applications pouring in and fewer hires being made, it's a tough time to get a job in retail if you are looking. Job seekers will need to be resourceful and not get discouraged in order to land a job."
Supporting Resources
- Organizations that use Kronos hiring solutions employ approximately 15 percent of the U.S. consumer retail labor market, providing Kronos with a unique set of data on employee job applications, hirings, and length of service.
- The Kronos Retail Labor Index is released on a monthly basis. Go to www.kronos.com/retail-labor-index to access: the full report; a schedule of upcoming Index release dates; the Index methodology; and downloadable graphics.
- Note to reporters: cite Index findings as "Kronos Retail Labor Index".
About the Kronos Retail Labor Index
The Kronos Retail Labor Index is a family of metrics and indices that analyze the relationship between the demand and the supply sides of the labor market within the U.S. retail sector. It is derived from a single, unified data set, allowing for statistically appropriate comparisons and time series-based trending analysis. Firms that use Kronos hiring solutions employ approximately 15 percent of the U.S. consumer retail labor market, providing Kronos with a unique set of data on employee job applications, hirings, and length of service. The Kronos Retail Labor Index provides a distinct and early indicator of the health of the retail sector.
About Kronos Incorporated
Kronos is the global leader in workforce management solutions that enable organizations to control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce productivity. Tens of thousands of organizations in 60 countries — including more than half of the Fortune 1000® — use Kronos time and attendance, scheduling, absence management, HR and payroll, hiring, and labor analytics applications. To learn how Kronos uniquely delivers complete automation and high-quality information in an easy-to-use solution, visit www.kronos.com.
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© 2011 Kronos Incorporated.All rights reserved.Kronos is a registered trademark and Kronos Retail Labor Index is a trademark of Kronos Incorporated or a related company. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Contact
Laura Souza
Kronos Incorporated
+1 978.947.9477
laura.souza@kronos.com