Retail jobs jump by 22,000 in UK in a year
The retail sector has seen a boom in employment with over 22,000 more people taking up jobs than a year ago.
In the second quarter of 2010, full-time equivalent employment was up by 3.6% compared with the same time last year.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said the rise was driven by a 3% net increase in the number of stores.
The sector now provides 2.9 million jobs, representing 11% of the workforce and 8% of the UK economy.
Although the sector is a good barometer for measuring growth, there are concerns that public spending cuts and an increase in VAT will create challenges for it.
The BRC's director general Stephen Robertson said: "It's a remarkable achievement that, in the face of economic uncertainty, retailers in our Monitor have created 22,000 jobs and added nearly 500 stores since this time last year.
"Economic conditions and consumer confidence have certainly improved in the last 12 months but from a weak starting point.
"Consumer spending has been surprisingly resilient over the year and generally retail sales have remained robust.
"With unemployment at 2.5 million and with significant public sector cuts to come, it's encouraging retail is actively creating jobs."
It is thought one-off factors like the World Cup acted as a small boost to employment levels.
But the creation of new outlets and jobs was heavily influenced by the grocery sector which opened many new stores in the months from April to June.
The UK's overall unemployment rate in the three months to May was 7.8%, down 0.1 percentage points on the quarter.
The number of unemployed people fell by 34,000 to 2.47 million.
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