Retail Industry Adds 50,000 Jobs RILA warns that regulations could impede continued job gains

Arlington, VA – According to Department of Labor data released today, the retail industry added nearly 50,000 jobs in November, the second highest increase since September 2007. However, the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) warned that new regulations could impede the continued pace of job growth.

According to employment data released today from the Department of Labor, the retail industry added 49,800 jobs in November, raising the total U.S. retail jobs to 14.7 million. The retail industry has added nearly 200,000 new jobs this year alone, averaging 14,000 new jobs each month.

“Strong job growth in the retail industry is proof positive that the consumer is back,” said RILA President Sandy Kennedy.

The announcement of strong industry job gains coincides with optimism around this year’s holiday shopping season.

“As consumers gain confidence and open their wallets once again, the retail industry is poised to grow. The actions taken by retailers over the past four years to strengthen their operations and attract new customers position it well to thrive as the economy continues to recover,” said Kennedy.

As one of America’s largest private employers, the retail industry is hypersensitive to economic changes and workforce related regulations. With the economy in recovery, RILA has focused on regulations harmful to employers that could interfere with continued job gains. Recent decisions from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) give retailers considerable pause, specifically their decision in the Specialty Healthcare case.

“Novembers retail job gains are terrific, but policymakers must not take it for granted that continued growth is a given. Regulatory challenges, particularly those emerging from the National Labor Relations Board, could easily replace economic challenges as the greatest impediment to job creation, which would undermine the industry ability to regain jobs lost during the recession.”

The NLRB’s decision in Specialty Healthcare reverse decades of precedent and allow unions to gerrymander a workplace to establish micro-unions, creating unnecessary divisions within the workforce, undermining staffing flexibility and impeding retailers’ ability to meet the expectations of their customers. Further, this decision would reduce career development opportunities by limiting cross-training, and could dramatically increase a company’s operating costs.

RILA has aggressively fought to reverse the NLRB’s decision in the Specialty case and welcomed the passage this week of legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to do just that. RILA has called on the Senate to take up the bill quickly in order to protect employee and employer rights and to ensure this ill-conceived regulation does not impede continued retail job growth.

RILA is the trade association of the world’s largest and most innovative retail companies. RILA members include more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers, which together account for more than $1.5 trillion in annual sales, millions of American jobs and more than 100,000 stores, manufacturing facilities and distribution centers domestically and abroad