Retail sector taking on more full-time workers

THE number of people getting full-time jobs in the retail sector rose at its fastest pace for three years this summer.

a survey by the British retail Consortium (BrC) also showed that 72 per cent of firms plan to hire extra staff in the run-up to Christmas, up from 68 per cent last year.

However, wider retail employment grew just 1 per cent between July and September, a slower rate than the previous quarter.

BrC director general Helen Dickinson said the figures were still positive.

“I am particularly encouraged by the growth of full-time employment over the past quarter,” she said. “It is true that overall growth has slowed a little since the very strong results we reported last time.

“This slowing of growth supports the trend we have seen in recent BrC figures for gentler growth in sales and a slight fall recently in the number of people visiting our shops.

“The overall trend remains that jobs in retail are growing.”

The BrC’s retail employment monitor also found the number of Uk retail outlets rose by 1.6 per cent in the third quarter, driven entirely by food retailers.

Food retailers continue to outpace non-food retailers in terms of hours worked as well, with sector “a crucial driver” in the overall growth of the retail sector.