Kronos® Incorporated today announced the February release of the Kronos Retail Labor Index™, a family of metrics and indices that analyze the relationship between the demand and supply sides of the labor market within the U.S. retail sector, and provide a distinct and early indicator of the overall state of the economy. The February 2010 release includes data for January 2010. The report is available on the Kronos Retail Labor Index website.
News Facts
- The Kronos Retail Labor Index: (This metric is defined as the percentage of job applications that result in a hiring, normalized within a scale of 0 to 100. A level of 3.00 percent means that for every 100 applications received, three hirings occurred). The Kronos Retail Labor Index decreased to 3.20 percent this month down from 4.02 percent for January 2010. This represented a 20.41 percent decrease (on a relative basis) month-over-month.
- Retail Hiring Level: The 68 retailers representing 27,034 distributed locations across the U.S. that make up the Kronos data sample recorded 44,919 hirings (on a seasonally adjusted basis) in January 2010, a decrease of 4.26 percent from the December 2009 seasonally adjusted figure of 46,892. This was, however, 24.94 percent higher than the 33,714 hirings that occurred in January 2009.
- Retail Applications Level: The supply of applications increased significantly this month up 20.32 percent from the December 2009 to a seasonally adjusted level of 1,405,264. The January 2010 figure represented a 12.07 percent increase over the 1,235,712 applications processed in January 2009.
- Retail Employee Retention Rate: Continuing the trend of increased employee retention, employees were 5.31 percent more likely to have a length of service of 60 days or more in January 2010 than they were in January 2009.
Supporting Quotes
- Dr. Robert Yerex, Ph.D.,chief economist, Kronos
"This month, an overwhelming increase in applications and a reduction in hiring by retailers drove the Index down 20.41 percent. Though this may seem bleak, the good news is that the hiring numbers in January 2010 are significantly higher than they were in January 2009, an encouraging sign that this year is getting off to a better start than last."
Supporting Resources
- Organizations that use Kronos hiring solutions employ approximately 15 percent of the U.S. consumer retail labor market, providing Kronos with a unique set of data on employee job applications, hirings, and length of service.
- The Kronos Retail Labor Index is released on a monthly basis. Go to www.kronos.com/retail-labor-index to access: the full report; a schedule of upcoming Index release dates; the Index methodology; and downloadable graphics.
- Note to reporters: cite Index findings as "Kronos Retail Labor Index".
About the Kronos Retail Labor Index
The Kronos Retail Labor Index is a family of metrics and indices that analyze the relationship between the demand and the supply sides of the labor market within the U.S. retail sector. It is derived from a single, unified data set, allowing for statistically appropriate comparisons and time series-based trending analysis. Firms that use Kronos hiring solutions employ approximately 15 percent of the U.S. consumer retail labor market, providing Kronos with a unique set of data on employee job applications, hirings, and length of service. The Kronos Retail Labor Index provides a distinct and early indicator of the health of the retail sector.
About Kronos Incorporated
Kronos is the global leader in workforce management solutions that enable organizations to control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce productivity. Tens of thousands of organizations in 60 countries — including more than half of the Fortune 1000® — use Kronos time and attendance, scheduling, absence management, HR and payroll, hiring, and labor analytics applications. To learn how Kronos uniquely delivers complete automation and high-quality information in an easy-to-use solution, visit www.kronos.com.
© 2010 Kronos Incorporated.Kronos is a registered trademark and Kronos Retail Labor Index is a trademark of Kronos Incorporated or a related company. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Contacts:
Kronos Incorporated
Laura Souza, +1 978-947-4777
laura.souza@kronos.com
