Grocery retail sector sees job decrease in March

Hiring in the grocery retail arena declined on a monthly basis in March, reflecting an overall decrease in retailing jobs.

Food and beverage retailers lost 6,400 jobs for March, even as the U.S. unemployment rate held steady, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The falloff in grocery came after gains of 4,500 jobs in February and 1,800 jobs in January. Total job count for food and beverage stores dipped about 0.2% to 3.24 million (seasonally adjusted) in March from nearly 3.246 million for February.

Still, the grocery retail sector in March added 57,900 jobs year over year, up 1.8%, compared with 2.5% growth in February, when 79,900 jobs were added. The gain represented the fifth consecutive month of annual job growth for grocery in the wake of employment decreases in October.

Warehouse clubs, supercenters and other general merchandise retailers also experienced sequential job losses for March, with employment down 1,200 jobs, or a fraction of a percent, to 2.176 million from 2.177 million in February, when 24,500 jobs were added, according to BLS data. Year over year for March, the segment gained 53,300 jobs, up 2.4%.

The overall general-merchandise retail category—including department stores—added 13,500 jobs in March, a 0.4% uptick from February but down 2.3% year over year, marking a loss of 73,900 jobs in the sector, BLS data showed. Department stores added 14,800 jobs for March, up 1.6% month over month, but the segment lost roughly 20,500 jobs, a 2.1% decrease, on a yearly basis.

Also in the food, drug and mass retail channel, health and personal care stores—including drug stores—lost 2,300 jobs in March, down 0.2% sequentially to 1.104 million. The segment tallied 1,900 job losses year over year as well, for a nearly 0.2% decline.

Overall, the retail trade lost 14,600 jobs for March, down approximately 0.1% month over month to 15.527 million. For the year, the retail sector saw job count decline by 15,200, or 0.1%.

The U.S. unemployment rate came in at 3.5% for March, BLS reported—essentially maintaining the same level as in February (3.6%), January (3.4%) and December (3.5%). Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by about 236,000 jobs in March versus gains of 311,000 jobs in February, 517,000 in January and 260,000 in December. On an annual basis, the nation added about 4.145 million jobs, an uptick of 2.7%.

“Employment in retail trade changed little in March (-15,000),” BLS said in its report. “Job losses in building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers (-9,000) and in furniture, home furnishings, electronics, and appliance retailers (-9,000) were partially offset by a job gain in department stores ( 15,000). Retail trade employment is little changed on net over the year.”

BLS noted that the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons, at 5.8 million, changed little in March and have exhibited scant net movement since early 2022.

“The labor force participation rate, at 62.6%, continued to trend up in March. The employment-population ratio edged up over the month to 60.4%,” BLS reported. “These measures remain below their pre-pandemic February 2020 levels (63.3% and 61.1%, respectively).”