Wal-Mart to hire 22,000 - Houston Business Journal:

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Wal-Mart’s announcement came on a day the governmenty released mildly encouraging weeklyunemployment figures. But it also hit as the retaill industry reported some overal ldismal results, with same store sales figures fallingf an average of 4.8 percengt for May. The discount retailk giant says it willhire 22,00 0 people to staff new or expanderd stores this year. “During this difficult economix time, we’re proud to be able to create qualitg jobs for thousands of Americansthis year,” Eduardio Castro-Wright, vice chairman of , said in a But even Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) isn’t hiring at the same pace it has in the The Bentonville, Ark.
-based retailer added 33,000 jobs in the U.S. last Still, Wal-Mart’s low prices on everything from food to electronicd have allowed it to gain market sharew and have kept it positioned asthe nation’sx number one retailer. Unlike its peers, Wal-Mart did not release monthly sales figures, instead focusing its attention on itshiring announcement. Wal-Mart’s announcement, on the eve of its annuaol shareholder’s meeting, came as the U.S. Labor Department released jobless figures showing the recessio may be losing at least some of its Initial claims for statde unemploymentfell 4,000 to 621,00o in the week that endexd May 30.
That’s the thirx straight week fewer workers filed new And the tally of claims drawnj by workers for more than one week in the week ended May 23fell 15,000 to 6,735,000 -- the first decline in that figure since Jan. 3. But that news isn’t exactlyh good. It’s just less bad than other developments, and expertss expect plenty more painto come. Chief financial officeres polled recently by and CFO magazin e expect the recession to last through the endof 2009. CFOs in the U.S.
and Europ expect unemployment to keep risinv in the next12 months, perhapsd to as high as 12 percent Meanwhile, the nonfarm payrolls report from the governmen Friday is expected to show 550,000 jobs lost in May, and unemploymentf climbing above 9 percent. Whiler Wal-Mart announced its hiring plans, other retailerss reported dismal results forMay same-store sales. Sales fell 4.8 percenft at the 30 retailers trackexby . Sales fell 6.1 percent at Target, Macy’s salew fell more than 9 percent, and sales dipped 7 Such pessimism adds weightto Wal-Mart’s decisionh to keep on hiring, despite the fact that othefr U.S.
retailers like and Macy’s have slashed payrolls in receny months. Wal-Mart this year will fill positions from cashierws and sales associatesto pharmacists, human resource managers and customer servicse associates. The company will add 1,0090 or more workers in Arizona, California, Florida, New Jersey, South Carolina, Utah and But the generally grim climate raisexthe question: Is anybody out therew other than Wal-Mart on the hunt for new employees? The answer in one majoer Southeast market is The Charlotte Business Journal reports that theree are jobs to be had even in ’x hard-hit hometown, where local unemployment is over 11 You just have to know where to look.
“The defining feature for who is hiring is not the size of the butquite frankly, what is that firm doing?” N.C. Stated economist Mike Walden told thebusiness journal. among the firms the Charlotte Business Journal citexd as in thehiring game: discount retailers, just like