Holiday Hiring in Oregon

Retailers and package delivery companies rely on the holiday season to provide an end-of-year boost in sales that makes operating during the rest of the year worthwhile. Some businesses hire extra workers, often on a temporary basis, to get them through this busy time of year. The number of jobs added by “holiday hiring” industries with strong holiday employment patterns was above average in 2014.

It’s too early to say how well staffed the stores have been for this year’s holiday shopping season. Industry trends through July show that retailers have been adding a lot of jobs this year, and a recent forecast suggests retailers will be adding more than the typical number of workers this holiday season.

A few industries had larger than average buildups in 2014. The 2014 and 2001-2014 average buildups for each industry are shown in the table. Couriers and messengers, health and personal care stores, and furniture and home furnishing stores had a larger buildup in 2014 than their average buildup.

The largest buildup occurs at general and merchandise stores, which added 3,854 jobs in the closing months of 2014. General and merchandise stores account for nearly one-third (32%) of the holiday buildup. Postal services and couriers and messengers deliver many of the packages purchased during the holiday season and their holiday workers account for about 25 percent of the total holiday jobs buildup.

Holiday buildups inevitably lead to corresponding post-holiday declines in the number of workers needed as businesses adjust back to the usual sales pace. As a group, the holiday hiring industries are growing at near the same pace as the overall economy. This suggests that some of the jobs added this season will stick around in 2016.

Read more in the full holiday hiring article, written by State Employment Economist Nick Beleiciks.