Wal-Mart to hire 22,000 - The Business Review (Albany):

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Wal-Mart's announcement came on a day the government releasefd mildly encouraging weeklyunemployment figures. But it also hit as the retaill industry reported some overalkldismal results, with same store sales figures falling an average of 4.8 percen for May. The discount retai l giant it willhire 22,000 people to staff new or expandeds stores this year. "During this difficultg economic time, we're proud to be able to creat quality jobs for thousands of Americansthis year," Eduardo Castro-Wright, vice chairman of , said in a But even Wal-Mart isn’t hiring at the same pace it has in the The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer added 33,00o0 jobs in the U.S. last year.
Still, Wal-Mart’s low pricesz on everything from food to electronics have allowedc it to gain market share and have kept it positioned asthe nation’sz number one retailer. Unlike its peers, Wal-Martf did not release monthly sales instead focusing its attention on itshiringv announcement. Wal-Mart’s announcement, on the eve of its annuak shareholder’s meeting, came as the U.S. Labor Department releasee jobless figures showing the recession may be losing at least some ofits momentum. Initial for stated unemploymentfell 4,000 to 621,000 in the week that enderd May 30.
That’s the third straight week fewef workers filed new And the tally of claimsz drawn by workers for more than one week in the week endedc May 23fell 15,000 to 6,735,009 -- the first decline in that figure since Jan. 3. But that news isn’r exactly good. It’s just less bad than othedr developments, and experts expect to Chief financial officers polled recentlyt by Duke University and CFO magazine expect the recessio to last through the endof 2009. CFOs in the U.S. and Europe expect unemployment to keep rising in the next12 months, perhapws to as high as 12 percent domestically.
Meanwhile, the nonfarmm payrolls from the government Friday is expected toshow 550,000 jobs lost in May, and unemployment climbin g above 9 percent. While Wal-Mart announced its hiriny plans, other retailers reported for May same-stors sales. Sales fell 4.8 percent at the 30 retailers tracked by Thomson Reuters. Sales fell 6.1 percent at , salexs fell more than 9 percent, and sales dipped 7 Such pessimism adds weightto Wal-Mart’zs decision to keep on despite the fact that like and Macy’s have slashe d payrolls in recent months. Wal-Mart this year will from cashiersw and sales associatesto pharmacists, human resource managerx and customer service associates.
The company will add 1,0090 or more workers in California, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, Southg Carolina, Utah and But the generally grim climate raisessthe question: Is anybody out there other than Wal-Marg on the hunt for new employees? The answer in one majof Southeast market is encouraging. The reports that there are jobs to be had even in Bankof America’ds hard-hit hometown, where local unemployment is over 11 You just have to know wherew to look. “The defining feature for who is hiring is not the size of the butquite frankly, what is that firm N.C. State economist Mike Waldehn told thebusiness journal.
Notably, among the firms the Charlotts Business Journal cited as in thehiring game: discountg retailers, just like