The Indeed Hiring Lab tracks employment trends in the Retail vertical, analyzing the latest Indeed and Bureau of Labor Statistics data. We look at overall Retail employment trends, and dive deeper into Indeed job postings trends overall and in various Retail occupational categories.
Takeaways
- All job postings on the Indeed site are down 7.7% over the past year
- Postings in Retail and Hospitality segments have continued to edge down
- Wage growth in these sectors has slowed dramatically from recent highs
Indeed job postings
As we near the end of the fourth quarter of 2022 Indeed job postings have continued to reflect the cooling labor market. As of December 9, job postings are down 7.7% from the same time last year. However, demand for workers remains quite strong. As of December 9, the Indeed Job Postings Index registered at 148, meaning job postings remain 48% above their pre-pandemic base line.
Retail job postings
Job postings for segments inside the retail vertical are slowing in step with the overall labor market. Hospitality & Tourism and Food Preparation & Service job postings have fallen by 5.1% and 5.7%, respectively, from the same time last year. Meanwhile, the Retail category has shown a larger drop, down 11.5% from the same time last year.
Retail wage growth
As the labor market has cooled this year employers have had to compete a bit less for workers, which is reflected in wages. Recent data from the Indeed Wage Tracker show that wages across the labor market are growing at 6.5% year-over-year, down from their March 2022 high of 9%. Wages in service categories like these grew quite quickly in 2022 as employers competed for talent, with Food Preparation & Service wage growth nearing 15% over the summer. Toward the end of the year wage growth for Retail and Food Preparation & Service fell dramatically, both now at about 7%.
For more labor market insights from the Indeed Hiring Lab, follow along on our blog at hiringlab.org.
