In a small glimmer of hope for the U.S. economy, retailers have added back over 250,000 jobs last month compared with June to employ over 14 million people. The news was reported by WWD. While this indicates signs of improvement, this is still down 913,000 jobs from February. The total economy has added 1.8 million jobs, and unemploy is down from 11.1 percent in June to 10.2 percent for August.
Apparel and accessories specialty stores added 120,800 jobs last month. Department store payrolls are at a total of 1 million people.
There are still challenges to the economy rebounding though. With double digit unemployment and the extra 600 dollar unemployment benefits having recently expired, people now have less money to spend. There is also a nationwide eviction crisis looming over the country because of the expired benefits.
Many retail stores, which were shutdown for months, are also being sued for unpaid rent during their lockdown periods. There have also been bankruptcies galore affecting major retailers including Neiman Marcus, J. Crew, and Brooks Brothers.
Lord & Taylor recently filed for bankruptcy and their parent company Le Tote is looking at a possible liquidation. In many major cities, including New York, which is far from a full reopening, entire businesses are vanishing after being unable to survive months of lockdown. Some states have even begun to reverse their reopening decisions and the economic effects of which have yet to be seen.
