June 2010 National Retail Sales Results
June marked the third straight month of comparable store increases for national retailers. The important trend we see is regular price retailers across many sectors, especially apparel, are showing strong comparable growth. Department stores are attracting their customer – Nordstrom led the charge with a 14.1% comp store increase. Best Buy's most recent quarter release boasts a 7% comp increase and Advance Auto Parts' most recent quarter led their segment with a 7.7% comp increase. Footwear and specialty retailers like Brookstone (+14.1%) are posting double-digit growth.
The overall increase was in the 3% range but there are certainly chains on both sides of that number. This is a sharp contrast to 2009 where there was month-after-month of sales declines. We clearly have more consistent consumer activity for the first half of 2010 as evidenced by the national chain results. You may view our consolidated nationwide sales summary by clicking the below link.
Unemployment
According to the Labor Department, U.S. total payroll decreased by 125,000 positions in June, while the unemployment rate declined to 9.5 percent. Included in the total payroll drop was a decrease of 225,000 temporary U.S. Census jobs. Total private employment actually increased by 83,000 positions, up from the gain of just 33,000 in May.
For the first time this year, the number of long-term unemployed (those without a job for more than six months) declined, dropping 12,000 between May and June.
Recruiting
Your competition is upgrading their talent. Activity continues to accelerate. Currently employed, high demand candidates are now willing to consider change for the right opportunity. This is a significant market change from a few months ago. If you haven’t already, I would encourage you to develop a relationship with our team. They’re the finest retail specialists in the Retail search industry!
Click here to view June Retail Sales Results
