Retailer Payrolls Boosted in March

WASHINGTON — Specialty stores, discounters and department stores all boosted payrolls in March, the U.S. Department of Labor’s monthly employment report revealed Friday. Apparel and accessories stores added 1,500 seasonally adjusted jobs to employ 1.38 million in March, while department stores added 1,600 jobs to employ 1.34 million. General merchandise stores, a category that includes discounters and department stores, added 10,900 jobs to employ 3.1 million. “We do seem to be seeing improvement in apparel and accessories store employment, which are up on a year-over-year basis (by 5,100) for the first time since last May,” Scott Hoyt, senior director of consumer economics at Moody’s Analytics, said. “General merchandise stores also looked good from that perspective. The year-over year increase of 67,700 was the biggest increase since January 2014.” Hoyt noted sales growth in both segments has translated into more hiring. Department store employment, however, has been volatile. Despite the uptick in March, employment was down for the fifth straight month on a year-over-year basis, he said. The overall outlook for retailers is “pretty bright,” according to Hoyt. “Consumers have been saving a lot of money at gas pumps,” he said. “So far they haven’t been spending a lot of it but chances are as the

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