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Difficult trading conditions caused retail employment growth to falter in December. Retail full-time employment rose by a modest 0.6% over the last quarter of 2010 compared to the previous year. In contrast, the number of outlets grew by 5.9% compared to December 2009, indicating an increase in smaller store formats, according to the latest BRC-Bond Pearce Retail Employment Monitor.

Over half (58%) of the retailers in our sample indicated that they would maintain staffing levels, while a third (38%) indicated they would decrease staffing in the next three months, compared with just 13% this time last year. The monitor also highlights a strong divergence between non-food and food retailers, who continue to increase employment

 

Christina Tolvas-Vincent, retail expert in our employment team commented, "The overall figures are challenging, but it's significant that employment in the retail sector continued to outperform the overall economy. It's still too early to assess the impact of the public sector cuts on the private sector as a whole but there must now be some doubt cast on the extent to which retailers can absorb job losses."
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