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Kronos Retail Labor Index™ Shows Retail Hiring Lagging behind Other Signs of Economic Recovery

CHELMSFORD, Mass., June 7, 2010 — Kronos® Incorporated today announced the June 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 June 2010 release includes data for May 2010. 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 3.00 percent means that for every 100 applications received, three hirings occurred). The Kronos Retail Labor Index decreased to 3.80 percent this month, down 9.36 percent (on a relative basis) from 4.10 in May.
  • Retail Hiring Level: The 68 retailers representing 27,034 distributed locations across the U.S. that make up the Kronos data sample recorded 46,902 hirings (on a seasonally adjusted basis) in May 2010, a decrease of 22.45 percent from the April 2010 seasonally adjusted figure of 58,067. While a significant decrease from April, the number was 17.18 percent higher than the 38,842 hirings recorded for May 2009.
  • Retail Applications Level: The supply of applications decreased by 12.42 percent, to a seasonally adjusted level of 1,238,383 in May, a reversal of the trend seen in prior months. The May 2010 figure represented a 7.44 percent decrease compared with the 1,330,521 applications processed in May 2009.
  • Retail Employee Retention Rate: Employee retention increased in May 2010, with employees 3.83 percent more likely to have a length of service of 60 days or more than in May 2009.

Supporting Quotes

  • Dr. Robert Yerex, chief economist, Kronos
    "The number of hires made by retailers dropped in May, as did the number of applications they received. The drop in hiring was greater than the drop in applications, driving the Kronos Retail Labor Index down again this month."

    "Long-term unemployment continues to grow with a 354 percent increase over October of 2007, the month in which many economists agree the recession began. This trend has had a dramatic effect on personal income for a growing sector of the population and along with other factors will likely dampen consumer spending for some time, which in turn will have the effect of reducing the need for retailers to hire additional employees."

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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© 2010 Kronos Incorporated.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
+1 978.947.4777
laura.souza@kronos.com