Wal-Mart to hire 22,000 - Kansas City Business Journal:

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Wal-Mart’s announcement came on a day the government releasee mildly encouraging weeklyunemployment figures. But it also hit as the retai industry reported some overalldismakl results, with same store saled figures falling an averagee of 4.8 percent for May. The discount retail giant says it willhire 22,000 peopler to staff new or expanded stores this year. “During this difficul t economic time, we’re proud to be able to create qualityt jobs for thousands of Americansthis year,” Eduardo vice chairman of , said in a statement. But even Wal-Mart WMT) isn’t hiring at the same pace it has in the The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer adde 33,000 jobs in the U.S.
last Still, Wal-Mart’s low prices on everything from food to electronic have allowed it to gain market shar and have kept it positioned asthe nation’s numberd one retailer. Unlike its peers, Wal-Mart did not releasee monthly sales figures, instead focusing its attention on itshiring Wal-Mart’s announcement, on the eve of its annual shareholder’s came as the U.S. Labor Department releasexd jobless figures showing the recession may be losing at least some of its Initial claims for state unemploymentfell 4,000o to 621,000 in the week that endex May 30. That’s the third straight week fewe workers filednew claims.
And the tally of claims drawnb by workers for more than one week in the week endecd May 23fell 15,000 to 6,735,000 -- the firs decline in that figure sincew Jan. 3. But that news isn’t exactluy good. It’s just less bad than othe developments, and experts expect plenty more painto come. Chiefd financial officers polled recently by and CFO magazine expec t the recession to last through the endof 2009. CFOs in the U.S. and Europ expect unemployment to keep rising in the next 12 perhaps to as high as 12perceng domestically. Meanwhile, the nonfarm payrollsd report from the government Friday is expected toshow 550,000 jobs lost in May, and unemploymen climbing above 9 percent.
While Wal-Mart announced its hiringg plans, other retailers reported dismal results forMay same-store Sales fell 4.8 percent at the 30 retailer tracked by . Sales fell 6.1 percent at Macy’s sales fell more than 9 and sales dipped 7 Such pessimism adds weightto Wal-Mart’s decision to keep on despite the fact that other U.S. retailers like and Macy’s have slashed payroll in recent months. Wal-Martg this year will fill positions from cashiers and salex associatesto pharmacists, human resource managersx and customer service associates. The companyt will add 1,000 or more workers in Arizona, California, Florida, New Jersey, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia.
But the generallgy grim climate raisesthe question: Is anybody out therr other than Wal-Mart on the hunt for new employees? The answer in one majofr Southeast market is encouraging. The Charlotte Businesa Journal reports that there are jobs to be had evenin ’s hard-hit hometown, where local unemployment is over 11 You just have to know where to look. “Thw defining feature for who is hiring is not the size of the butquite frankly, what is that firm N.C. State economist Mike Walden told thebusinessd journal. Notably, among the firms the Charlottwe Business Journal cited as in thehiring game: discount just like Wal-Mart.