WASHINGTON — Specialty chains and discounters boosted payrolls in July, while department stores trimmed jobs as the nation’s unemployment rate ticked up slightly, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s monthly employment report released Friday.
Apparel and accessories stores added a seasonally adjusted 6,900 jobs to employ 1.4 million in July, while general merchandise stores, a category that includes department stores and discounters, added 6,500 jobs to employ 3.1 million last month. But department stores continued to show weakness, cutting 300 jobs to employ 1.3 million.
In the overall economy, employers added 209,000 jobs while the unemployment rate edged up to 6.2 percent from 6.1 percent in June.
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“The pickup in retail employment in July and the upward revisions to June and May are encouraging,” said Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist at the National Retail Federation. “Although the unemployment rate edged up, more job seekers entered the labor force.”
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But he warned that the growth could be uneven in the months ahead.
“No one can guarantee smooth sailing ahead even though overall retail payrolls were up by 27,000 jobs,” Kleinhenz added. “Choppy growth among business lines will continue.”
Doug Handler, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight, said, “While not quite as good as the blockbuster report in June, the July employment report added more information to confirm that the economy is on track to grow at about a 3 percent rate in the second half of the year.”
Handler said it was “particularly good news” that 50,000 of the overall job gains in the month came from the construction and manufacturing sectors, areas that had been lagging since the end of the recession.
In the manufacturing sector, textile producers continued to add jobs, in part due to a resurgence in Made in America products. Apparel manufacturers continued shedding jobs, though at a slower pace. Mills making apparel fabrics and yarns added 200 jobs to employ 117,100 in July, while mills making home furnishings products added 2,400 jobs to employ 112,900. Apparel employment fell 200 to 132,100 last month.