Kronos Retail Labor Index™ Shows Retailers Cautious About Holiday Shopping Season

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 2.58 percent in September 2009, an all-time low for the Index. It recovered to 2.90 percent in October, a significant improvement but still below the rate of 3.00 percent reported in August.
• Retail Hiring Level: The 68 retailers representing 27,034 distributed locations across the U.S. who make up the Kronos data sample, recorded 40,193 hirings in September 2009 and 44,544 hirings in October 2009. September’s figure represented a 6.22 percent drop from August, the first drop in the level of hirings since January 2009. This was followed in October by a 13.31 percent increase. October’s seasonally adjusted figure represents the highest level of hiring since December 2009.
• Retail Applications Level: The supply of applications continued to increase, to a seasonally adjusted level of 1,552,914 in September 2009, and 1,583,990 in October 2009, the highest level recorded to date. September and October represented the ninth and tenth straight monthly increases in the applications level.
• Retail Employee Retention Rate: Continuing the trend of increased employee retention, the 60-day retention rate for September 2009 was 4.43 percent higher than it was in September of 2008, while the October 60-day retention rate was 4.47 percent higher than it had been in October 2008.
• Holiday Hiring: While the level of applications received by retailers in September and October has increased each year since 2006, the cumulative number of hirings made in each of those years has decreased and is currently at its lowest point since 2006, indicating that retailers are expecting a slow holiday sales season.

Supporting Quotes

• Dr. Robert Yerex, Ph.D., chief economist, Kronos
  “September saw a significant dip in the Kronos Retail Labor Index, due in part to an ever-growing pool of applicants. The increase in the level of applications in September and October outpaced any simultaneous increase in the level of hirings. Early evidence from the winter holiday hiring period indicates that retailers are preparing for another weak sales season and are hiring at accordingly conservative rates.”

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.

© 2009 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.

Kronos Incorporated
Laura Souza, +1 978-947-4777
laura.souza@kronos.com