December Jobs Report: Supercenters, Grocery Stores See Gains

Retail fared better than the U.S. economy overall in terms of jobs in December, as the economy on the whole shed jobs for the first time since April.

The retail sector added 121,000 jobs for the month, with almost half of that growth coming from general merchandise stores (including supercenters and warehouse clubs), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly jobs report, released Jan. 8. That's in comparison with an overall loss of 140,000 jobs on nonfarm payrolls in December. 

Notably, restaurants and bars lost 372,000 jobs in December. Employment in the leisure and hospitality sector, which includes restaurants as well as hotels and recreation facilities, is down 23.2% (3.9 million jobs) from February 2020. 

General merchandise retailers' job expansion in December comes after the sector shed 21,000 jobs in November. Food and beverage stores likewise added jobs—8,000 of them—in December.

Employment in the "couriers and messengers" (aka delivery) field climbed by 37,000 for the month, down from the 82,000 jobs that delivery providers added in November. However, since February 2020, couriers and messages employment has expanded by 220,000 jobs.

The U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.7% in December. The number of unemployed persons also was unchanged at 10.7 million. While down from highs last spring, both metrics are nearly twice their levels from last February, the Bureau of Labor Statistics noted. Overall job losses for December reflected "the recent increase in coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and efforts to contain the pandemic," the bureau's news release stated.