Catherwood LibraryILR School

Responding to lower levels of predicted holiday spending, retailers and wholesalers of consumer goods are planning to hire the fewest seasonal part-time workers since the 1993 holiday season. While high-end businesses such as Saks, Nordstrom, and Neiman Marcus will likely cut their holiday staffing levels the most from last year's levels, while such retailers as J.C. Penney and Target foresee no significant drop in business and plan to keep holiday hiring levels about the same as last years'. Although wholesale and retail stores will as usual be the main job-creators in the fourth quarter, this is due more to an overall weak economy than to a strong showing in demand for consumer goods.