WASHINGTON — Textile and apparel producers slashed a seasonally adjusted 4,400 jobs last month, and department stores cut 6,100 jobs, the Labor Department said. Clothing and accessories stores bucked the trend and added 2,000 jobs.
Overall, employers boosted payrolls by 51,000 jobs in September, compared with a gain of 188,000 in August, according to a monthly report issued Friday. Many economists say 155,000 new jobs are needed each month to keep up with population growth. The unemployment rate dropped to 4.6 percent from 4.7 percent the previous month, serving up a mixed jobs picture four weeks ahead of the midterm elections.
In the first nine months of the year, the domestic apparel and textile industry lost a total of 34,600 jobs. The industry employs 601,800 workers compared with 642,800 a year ago.
Textile job losses will likely be a factor in some competitive Congressional races in southern textile states such as the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama.
“Workers in those industries have been on pins and needles for the last decade, at least,” said Eric Heberlig, associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. “Obviously, economic insecurity plays a big role in how voters vote, but the key question is whether the incumbent’s challenger can tie those job losses to something the incumbent has done, which is often pretty difficult.”
Retail employment in September was down by 70,300 from a year earlier, with department store firings making up almost three-quarters of the overall decline. Department stores, riding a long-term wave of consolidation, trimmed payrolls by 6,100 in September to 1.55 million, and posted 51,700 job losses against a year ago. Apparel and accessories stores employed 1.43 million in September, down 22,200 from a year ago.
“The retail sector has lost jobs in the last 12 months, which means they are relying on productivity gains, which means less floor help,” said Rajeev Dhawan, director of the economic forecasting center at Georgia State University.
Consumers will be more preoccupied with the “prospect for job growth in the future” than the monthly jobs report when they go to the polls, Dhawan said.
“If they believe [interest rate] cuts are about to come and the economy will boom up again, this [monthly jobs report] will be a non-issue,” he said. “Another thing that will matter is gas prices, which have been coming down and this will definitely put consumers in a good mood.”
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Dhawan cautioned that other factors could dampen consumer confidence, noting if home prices “take a severe hit in the next month” the mood could “sour” and hurt incumbents.
Nigel Gault, U.S. economist at Global Insight, said there was something for every politician in the jobs survey. “If you are a Republican, you can point to the declining unemployment rate and say things are doing well, and if you are a Democrat, you can point to the 51,000 jobs created and say things are going badly and are about to get worse,” he said.
The Labor Department employment report for October will be released four days before the Nov. 7 election.